The Adventures of Albus Potter
by marina7070
Summary: Ever since he could talk, Albus Potter told everyone how excited he was to attend Hogwarts. But when he finally arrives, he realizes nothing is easy; he has to deal with drama, the strains of friendship, his heap of relatives, a wicked crush, and plenty of schoolwork and studying. Will it all turn out all right? Or will he be unhappy for the next seven years of his life?
1. Chapter 1

**My name is marina7070, but you can call me Marina or Mari. I have been on FanFiction for several months now, and have posted three stories: one a multi-chapter and two one-shots. As a newbie, I am still going to post stories, many of them book-related. But for now, let's discuss this fic.**

**First of all, I would like to say that this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. I am very proud of the work, and even thought I have some insecurities about it, I think it's my best work yet. So please, try to not criticize my writing style or descriptions; I tried my best, and I'm sorry if you don't like it. Secondly, here's a very big notice: the first eight chapters (already written) will be focusing more on the five or six main characters, their relationships, appearances, and personalities. There will be other things about those categories in later chapters, but they will be mainly brief mentions. The main five or six will be the characters most appearing in the fanfic; others that are mentioned, though maybe not in every chapter, will have a part somehow. The last thing I would like to say is that, if this story is popular, I may make a sequel, and will follow the main character throughout his adventures at Hogwarts. And, to let me know if you would like a sequel, favourite, follow, review and read! **

**Thanks everyone,**

**Marina.**

**Chapter One**

Albus Potter drummed his fingers against his knee, his head leaning against the window, and listened quietly as none other than Rose Weasley, his cousin and one of his best friends, went on and on about how excited she was to be going to Hogwarts. Occasionally, he muttered things like, "Yes, Rose," or "I have no idea, Rose," but he was actually paying more attention to the passing scenery, which his father and mother had gazed at many times before, or the face of the girl sitting beside Rose.

She was absolutely stunning. She had wavy blonde hair, which ended just past her shoulders, and her bangs were always clipped back with a beret. Her eyes, larger than most people's, were a light blue with a ring of dark blue around the outside, and had incredibly long eyelashes framing them perfectly. Thin eyebrows arched high over eyes, which were hardly noticeable because they were so light, and freckles dotted her pale skin. Her nose, which was round at the end, wasn't very large, so they threw more attention to the lips, which were full and a dark pink.

It wasn't just her appearance that he loved. It was her, in general. He loved her voice, which was smooth and soft and so pretty is was almost musical. He loved her smile, which was large and beautiful and stretched from ear-to-ear. He loved her personality, which was laidback and easy-going.

He tried to keep his gaze outside the window, but sometimes he would catch sight of her face and stare at her for over a minute. She never noticed - every time she looked his direction his eyes flicked outside the window and she continued to talk to Rose. He had no idea _what_ is was they were talking about, but judging from their voices, it sounded interesting. Every once in a while he caught tidbits of their conversation, and then he just stared at her face and everything else seemed to fade away. When they were just a few hours away from the school, she got up to get changed into her robes, and he pulled his head from the wall and looked at Rose.

"Who is that?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as nonchalant sounding as he could. It wasn't any good, though, because Rose saw right through him. She picked up the girl's cat, set it on her lap, and stroked it from the top of its head to the tip of its tail as a grin formed on her porcelain face.

"Her name is Maya," she answered quietly, "and she's hoping to be in Gryffindor. I don't think she will, though. She seems more like a Ravenclaw to me." She put the cat on the ground and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "And don't try to act all normal. I can tell you like her."

His face instantly reddened. "W-What? No!" he protested. "No, I-I don't!"

Rose laughed, rolling her eyes. "Of course you do," she said, resting her chin on her knees. "And it's perfectly reasonable. She's gorgeous. I'm so in love with her hair. Aren't you?"

Now it was Albus' turn to roll his eyes. "Yes, I am so in love with her hair, Rose," he replied sarcastically, though his heart thumped even faster at the thought, and a grin spread across his face.

After a few moments of silence, Maya entered, a Licorice Wand hanging from her mouth. Trailing behind her was a tall, thin boy with plenty of acne who didn't look to happy to be here. Maya just smiled at him and hopped back onto her seat beside Rose. She took the candy out of her mouth, pointed it at Albus, and said, "You're name is Albus, right?"

In reply, Albus nodded.

"The name's Maya," she said, leaning back.

"Nice to meet you, Maya," Albus replied.

"Nice to meet you too, Albus," she said with a grin. "Can I call you Al for short?"

"Yes, that's fine," he responded.

She popped the candy back in her mouth and murmured, "Good, good." Rolling her eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh, she leaned down to pick her cat up from off the ground. "Oh, Brookie, what have you eaten now?" She held her cat in front of her face with one hand and took something out of the cat's mouth with the other.

"Oh, you silly cat. You ate my watch!" She pulled a leather strap out of the cat's mouth, and tapped her firmly on the nose after throwing the watch down on the seat to her right. "Naughty girl," she said as the cat bounced back onto the floor. With a cheeky grin, she wiped the watch off with Kleenex, and put it in her trunk.

"So where were you born?" Maya asked Albus, leaning against the seat with her arms crossed.

"Surrey," Albus said. "Along with this one," he added, pointing to Rose, "and my brother, James. He's in his second year now."

"Oh really?" Maya asked. "Cool!"

"Why, where were you born?" Rose asked.

"Manchester," she answered.

"That's way better than stupid ol' Surrey," Albus said with a laugh. He thought that he might be nervous the first time he talked to her, but it was like talking to an old friend. Like talking to Hugo, or Rose, or even Victoire. Maybe even his father.

"No, it's not!" she protested with a giggle.

Suddenly, a knock came from the opposite side of the door. The boy was the closest so he opened it. In stepped a girl with a neon green streak in her hair, two piercings on each ear, and a stern expression on her face. "The train will be arriving soon, first years," she said, "so make sure you're ready." Her gaze flickered to Albus, who was evidently not wearing his school clothes. "And put your uniform on."

Albus looked down at his plaid shirt and jeans. "Oh." He stood up, just as the door closed. "Oh. I'll, um, be right back guys," he said as he pulled his trunk down from the shelf, flipped it open, and pulled his uniform from the insides. Making his way to the door, he pushed it open and, hearing shouts, quickly went around the corner. _Probably kids just trying to get candy, _he thought, pushing open the door to the bathroom, where he got changed in silence.

Albus dipped his hand into the murky, black water of Black Lake. He was sharing a boat with Maya, who had pulled her hair into a ponytail; Rose, who had threw up in the lake after eating several vomit-flavoured Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans; and the nameless boy, who sat behind Rose and made no noise at all.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Albus asked as the castle edged closer.

"Oh, I think I'll be in Ravenclaw," she responded with a smile and a giggle. "But I wanna be in Gryffindor." She stroked the water with her hand, sending ripples across the surface. "Some people say that Ravenclaw are stuck-up," she added after a while, "but I think the kids in Slytherin will be the most stuck-up. Don't you?"

"Yeah," Albus responded quietly. If he got put into Slytherin, would she think he was like that? He knew it wasn't the right time – or place – to ask.

The rest of the boat ride was quiet. The only noise were kids' hands dipping into the water, and once Albus heard someone fall into the lake. He chuckled to himself, then quickly stopped. _That could be_ me, he thought to himself, his smile disappearing off of his face.

Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, helped the kids climb from their boat onto the dock after they had arrived. Albus went last, and when he stepped onto the dock, the burly man clapped him on the back. "Nice ter see you , Al," he greeted with a grin. "I see you've bin holdin' up well?"

"Yes, I have been," Albus replied, and Hagrid draped his arm around the boy's shoulder as he led him up to the castle.

"Well, I 'ave a little gift for yeh," he said, then added, "but it'd be bes' if we opened it tomorrow."

A little while later, after having their things brought up to the castle, the first-years gathered in the area outside the Great Hall. Some milled about, some talked, some paced, some sat on the ground playing games with their friends, and some leaned against the wall, looking distant. Albus, however, was doing none of these. He was sitting on the steps with Rose, just a bit farther away from the group, talking in hushed whispers.

"Are you worried that you'll be in Slytherin?" Rose asked him, pulling her red hair back into a ponytail. "Our families wouldn't care. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Albus replied, flicking hair from his forehead. "I just wanna be in Gryffindor. With _you."_ He nudged her with his elbow and laughed, and a giggled escaped her lips. "And James."

She looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, it would be nice if we were together, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would," he responded.

Suddenly, the hall became quiet. Not a single soul was with them, but the doors to the Grand Hall were opened. Grabbing her hand, Albus pulled Rose into the room, running to catch up with the other first-years, and stood at the back of the crowd.

Maya was the first to be sorted. She stepped lightly up the steps, hardly making a sound, sat on the stool, and folded her hands in her lap. Professor McGonagall, who looked even more elderly since the last time Albus had seen her, placed the sorting hat on Maya's nest of blonde hair. Albus could see her lips moving, though he didn't know what she was saying, and her eyes were tightly closed. For a few seconds, the hall was silent, but then the hat cleared his throat and shouted out, "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. The hat was taken off of her head. She walked down the steps, making next to no noise at all, and took a seat beside a teen with dreadfully long hair and tanned skin. He smiled, clapping her on the back, but silence was already falling over the room.

Student after student were sorted into the houses. Bennett, Myles was sorted into Gryffindor; Falls, Clarice was sorted into Ravenclaw; Mackey, Grant was sorted into Hufflepuff; and soon, the pool of remaining first-years was down to Albus, Rose, Scorpius Malfoy and a few other kids Albus did not know. Before he knew it, his name was called, and he sheepishly took a seat on the stool.

The leathery, wrinkly hat was placed on his head. He didn't like the feel of it – the loose threads tickled his cheeks and it smelled of rats and mold. It shook on his head, like a stomach rumbling, and it was all he could do not to gag. It was one of the most disgusting things he had ever known. A groan escaped the hat's lips, but then it straightened up, clearing its throat.

"Albus Potter?" the hat said, loud enough to be heard at any corner of the castle. "Which house would you like to be sort into?"

It didn't take Albus long to reply. "Gryffindor."

"And _why_ would you like to be placed in Gryffindor?"

"Because that's where my father was sorted into," he replied as calmly as he could, though it was obvious his hands were shaking.

"And you would like to follow in his footsteps, yes?" the hat said.

"Of course," Albus responded.

"Good." The hat coughed, laughed, and Albus could feel the corners of its mouth rising. "Better be . . . GRYFFINDOR!"

Loud cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, and as he hopped off the stool, Rose gave him a cheeky grin. He grinned back – he was in the house he was wanted to be in – and took a seat beside Myles Bennett, who was the boy who had been in the train compartment with them. He turned his attention to Rose, who was now going up the steps towards the stool. She sat down, smoothed her skirt, and the hat was placed on her orange head.

He noticed that she gave him a small smile before closing her eyes and whispering something to the hat. It pursed its lips, coughed, and one of his eyes raised, as if the questioned what she was whispering. The entire room was silent, only the coughing fit of the hat heard, and he cleared his throat.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table practically exploded. They cheered, clapped, and whistled as Rose made her way to the table. Her eyes were full of tears – of happiness, Albus assumed – and a grin lit her face. She sat next to a boy with short black hair and he held his hand out for her to shake. She did  
so, and Albus frowned.

Had she known she would be sorted in Ravenclaw? Did she want to be in Ravenclaw? Did she _always_ want to be in Ravenclaw? Suddenly, memories of her showing Ravenclaw-like traits came flooding back to him. She had known almost every magical creature ever – knowledge. She almost always corrected his grammar - intelligence. She loved making sarcastic jokes – wit. He couldn't believe it.

But someone distracted him. A girl with thick brown hair and big eyes, and a smirk pasted on her face, stepped up to the stool. She sat down, crossed her legs, and let her arms hang limply by her side as the hat was placed on her head. For a few minutes, the hat just sat there, obviously pondering over the choices. Was she brave enough for Gryffindor? Smart enough for Ravenclaw? Patient enough for Hufflepuff? Ambitious enough for Slytherin? The hat almost seemed like it didn't know where she belonged. This hadn't happened for years, apparently, because the teachers whispered to each other with worried looks on their faces. Soon enough, he cleared his throat, had another coughing fit, and shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table did not cheer. Nor did they wail, or jeer, or cry. Their mouths all quirked up into smiles, and they all stared at her intently as she stomped her way down the steps. She sat beside Scorpious Malfoy – he had asked the hat to put him in Gryffindor but he was sorted into Slytherin – who frowned and looked away. She looked at him, rolled her eyes and then turned her attention to Headmistress McGonagall.

"Welcome, students of Hogwarts School, to another fine year. First of all, I would like to say that it has been an honour to come back as your Headmistress this year. I enjoyed my time here last year, and although there was many a time when I was tired of pranks that the Gryffindor boys played, we always had a fun time in my office, eating ourselves sick on licorice and making jokes." She cleared her throat. "Second of all, I would like to welcome Professor Isaac Rednose to our school. He will be teaching charms." She beamed at the kids, and clapped her hands.

Suddenly, food appeared on the table. Some of it was stuff Albus had never even seen, like foods from foreign countries, and some of it was stuff he had eaten before and loved, like chicken with gravy or mashed potatoes or hamburgers. Everyone scrambled for food, taking handful after handful of different dishes, but Myles, Maya, and Albus waited for the crowd to clear before putting food on their plates.

Albus stared at his hands, which were folded in his lap. Maya, who apparently didn't know why he was sad, nudged him with her elbow. "What's wrong?" she asked as he turned his head to look at her. "Is it Rose?"

He nodded. It wasn't just the fact that she was in Ravenclaw, it was the fact that she didn't bother telling him she wanted to be sorted into Ravenclaw. They had never kept secrets from one another. They had always told each other anything, like hopes or dreams, or goals for the future. Things they would never tell anyone else, except for maybe their parents. They were close. They were best friends.

But apparently they weren't as close as Albus thought. Instead of worrying Maya further, he gave her a half-smile, and flicked hair from his forehead, reaching out to take some mashed potatoes from a golden bowl. She laughed, hit him playfully on the shoulder and, without knowing, reached for the same spoon that Albus was reaching for. Her hand landed on top of his, and the two stared at their interlocked hands for a moment before releasing. He scratched the back of his neck with his other hand and let Maya use the spoon first. He could feel the blush on his cheeks, and swiftly turned away to face the girl at the Slytherin table.

"So who's that?" he asked, not to anyone in particular.

"You weren't listening?" Maya sounded surprised. But after coming to realizing _why _he hadn't been listening, she said, "Her name is Sidney Webster. Looks to me like her and Scorpius aren't getting along too well."

"Yeah," Albus said, watching Scorpius and Sidney argue. She looked like she was winning, with a smug grin on her tanned face.

He knew that the girl would give him nothing but trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the new chapter! Sorry for posting it now, it's earlier than I excepted to come out, but I couldn't wait to share it with you guys!**

**So, if you like the story, review, favourite, and follow! Thanks!**

**-Marina**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

One hour later, the students started filing out of the Great Hall. First, Slytherin, who glared at the Gryffindor table before disappearing into the hallway. Next, Hufflepuff, who laughed and cheered and giggled as they made their way down to the basement. After Hufflepuff, Gryffindor stood up to leave, but when they made it outside of the room Albus leaned against a wall and waited, his arms crossed.

"What are you doing?" Maya asked, straying away from the rest of the group with him.

"I need to talk to Rose," he answered.

Maya rolled her eyes, but she flashed him a smile anyway. "All right. Tell me how it goes, okay?" She patted him on the shoulder before running to catch up with the rest of the group.

It wasn't hard to find Rose in the cluster of Ravenclaws exiting the Great Hall. Her red head was high above the rest of the group of smaller children, and the second he saw it he pushed his way through the crowd to get closer to her. Soon, he was moving along with the Ravenclaws, caught in the stream of kids heading up to the tower, and couldn't even see Rose anymore. "Rose?" he called, trying to peak over the shoulder of a young girl, presumably in her second year. He was about to call her name out again but a sixth year smacked him on the head.

"Quiet yourself," the boy muttered, turning back around to continue to talk to the girl he was conversing with before. Albus rolled his eyes and shoved two fourth year girls out of the way, muttering to himself. Seconds later, he was at the front of the pack, and he still hadn't seen Rose.

Finally, before they got to the Ravenclaw Tower, she put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "Albus!" she whispered, her face alight with joy. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your house?"

"I need to talk to you," he replied, stopping in the middle of the group. He crossed his arms and frowned. "Of course, you can continue on with _Ravenclaw _if you want to keep something _else _from me."

"Al," she whispered, as the rest of the group walked past her until it was just the two of them standing in the middle of the hallway. "Please, I-I . . ." she let her hand fall to her side and looked at him, her green eyes glazed over with tears. "I don't understand why you're mad."

"I'm mad because you didn't tell me you wanted to be in Ravenclaw!" he shouted. "You told me you always wanted to be in Gryffindor, like your mother and father! You wanted to live in the Gryffindor Tower and represent Gryffindor house! Not Ravenclaw! You never told me you wanted to be in Ravenclaw!" He then looked at the ground, kicking a crumb of cement with his shoe. "I thought we were friends, Rose. I thought we told each other everything!"

Rose stared at him, open-mouthed. He had never yelled at her, and she had never yelled at him. But hearing and seeing him like that was actually very scary. His face was red, his eyes were wide, and his hands were balled into fists by his sides.

"We are friends, A-Al," she whispered, a stray tear streaking down her face, "and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just that . . ."

"That what?" Albus said.

"I didn't want to tell you because I knew how much we wanted to be together," she answered, wiping the tear away with the sleeve of her robe. "That we wanted to be in Gryffindor together." She sighed. "But my mother told me that I belonged in Ravenclaw. She also said that she didn't necessarily care where I was sorted into, but I think she wanted me to be in it. So I wished for Ravenclaw, and here I am."

Albus couldn't believe it. His aunt Hermione, wanting Rose to be in Ravenclaw? No way.

"I don't believe you," he said simply.

"Fine," Rose said, her expression hardening. "Don't bother asking me again. I'll see you later, _Albus._" And with that, she turned on her heel, and stomped up the stairs to Ravenclaw Tower.

* * *

The next morning found Albus sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Maya on his right, and James on his left. The other two were talking and laughing, discussing one of James' crazy antics from the year before, but Albus wasn't listening. He was too busy staring off into space and thinking of his conversation with Rose.

Maybe he was a little harsh. She didn't do it to hurt him, she just wanted to do something nice for her mom. Something that her mom would like. Something that her mom would surely appreciate. Something that her mom could brag about to other people.

But she could've told him first. He would've understood if she explained she was doing for her mother. But no, she kept it a secret, hidden away, where no one would know. She didn't tell him even though he shared his fears of being in Slytherin with her. He felt empty without his best friend. He felt empty without his cousin.

He felt empty without his family.

He pushed the bowl away and rested his head on the table. Maya, who apparently hadn't noticed his lack of enthusiasm at his brother's story, turned her head so she was looking him in the eye. "Al?" she said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he muttered in response. "I just argued with Rose last night."

"Oh, right. You went to talk to her." Maya nodded, spooning scrambled eggs into her mouth. "Is that all that happened?"

"Yeah," Albus replied.

"Sorry man," James said, patting him on the back.

"Nah, it's fine." Obviously, it was a complete lie. It was not all fine; he wanted to be sitting with Rose at that moment, laughing, and sharing stories. But he didn't want his friends to worry. Albus sat up straight and gave them a lopsided grin. "Anyway, classes start today, and I'm really excited to start my first year officially. Even if I'm not in the same house as Rose."

Maya pointed her spoon at him, a grin on her face. "My point exactly! We'll still see her in classes and everything, and we could always go places with her after classes."

"She's not going to be talking to me for a while, Maya. Trust me," he said simply.

"Well once she does, then everything will be back to normal," she said. "Anyway, we should get going. Come one, Al." She stood up, grabbed his hand, and waved to his brother with her other hand. "Bye, James." She dragged Albus out of the hall and they went on their way to their first class.

"I can tell it's not fine," Maya said a few minutes later as they walked to Potions. She waved her wand in the air and avoided his gaze. "You're really hurting without her."

Albus sighed and shook his head. How on earth did she know these things? Did girls have some sort of emotion radar that they used around people to detect their emotions? "Really, I'm fine," he said, watching kids run past them to get to their classes.

"Stop lying to me," she said, her voice firm.

"Seriously, it's all g-"

"Stop lying, Albus." She turned around to face him and put a hand on his chest to keep him from continuing on. "Please, tell the truth."

He looked down at her hand. "It's not fine," he admitted quietly, his voice almost a whisper. "I really, really wanted her to be in the same house as me. It didn't matter if we were in Slytherin, or Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. I just wanted to be with her." He looked into Maya's eyes. "We've been friends forever, you know? And we told each other everything." He cleared his throat – his eyes were watering. "At least I _thought _we did."

Suddenly, Maya threw her arms around him, her cheek pressed to his. "I'm sorry, Al," she whispered.

He was tentative to hug back, but finally he did, wrapping his arms around her waist. Before they were about to pull away, he heard a voice behind him; one that he had not heard any time before.

"Oh, would you look at that." Sidney Webster, the girl who was arguing with Scorpius in the Great Hall the day before, stalked up to the two kids. "Potter and Allen, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." A snicker escaped her mouth as Scorpius walked up behind her.

"Shut up, Sidney," Maya growled, releasing Albus.

"Oh?" Sidney stepped closer, her face inches from Maya's. "What was that, mudblood?"

Albus had heard this term used before. When he was over at Rose's house for dinner, Uncle Ron was telling a story of how Draco Malfoy called Hermione a mudblood, and he tried to curse Malfoy with a spell that made him puke up slugs. It backfired, of course. "I was puking out huge, slimy slugs for the rest of the day," he had recalled.

Apparently this was an insult to Maya, because the second she hear those words she turned, tears in her eyes. "Mudblood! Mudblood!" She sniffled, tilted her head to the floor, and walked swiftly up the stairs. Sidney gave Scorpius a royal smirk, but he did not give her on in return. Instead, he just walked past her and continued to make his way to the Potions classroom.

"You lay off of her," Albus growled.

Sidney simply elbowed him in the chest and stalked off down hallway, leaving him to pick himself off of the ground and wonder where Maya had gone.

* * *

Albus and his brother, James, made their way down the slope to Hagrid's cottage. Though their father had said that they had to go to tea on Friday, the two decided that they would go much earlier, for they were too excited and couldn't wait. They had not spoken since earlier that morning – they all had different classes because they were in different years – and he had yet to tell him about what happened with Maya and Sidney. He thought it would be some information that needed to be shared.

He saw Maya in all of the classes they had together. She acted normally, with a smile on her face, and a laugh bubbling constantly in her throat. But sometimes he noticed her looking down as if trying to hide a frown or tears. He hadn't said anything, of course. That wouldn't be the smartest idea in the middle of class.

James walked up the steps and knocked loudly on the door. Albus stood behind him, hands in the pockets of his coat, fumbling around with something he had found on the ground earlier. It was a key; small and silver, with intricate etchings. He had thought that maybe Hagrid lost it when he wandered the grounds or visited a teacher.

Hagrid opened the door and a smile adorned his face. "Welcome, James!" he said, motioning the older boy in. "And yeh ter, Al! Come on in!"

Albus took a seat at a small, circular table.

He had never been in Hagrid's home before. His father had always told him of the times he spent there, and how welcome he always felt when he was visiting the man, and how his worries seemed to 'float away on an invisible cloud.' But ever since the war that had happened years previous, they had to rebuild it.

It now had three floors, though the main floor had the most furniture and was the only place visitors were allowed to see. A large, stone fireplace was pushed against the far wall, and sitting on the mantle was many pictures of Albus and the rest of his family, along with various pieces of china and vases. Beside that was a cabinet full of plates, cutlery, cups, bowls, and pitchers for juice and other drinks. Also inside was a container, holding various buttons and pieces of coal that Hagrid picked up and found quite interesting.

Beside the cabinet were simple furniture items; a couch and a matching armchair, a coffee table, and a large window. Across from the window was a chest, and the lock hanging from it caught Albus' attention. What could Hagrid have that he wanted to keep so secret? But he simply ignored the nagging feeling and watched as James disappeared through a ragged wooden door to the loo.

Tucked away in a corner was a kitchen, made up only of a counter, one shelving unit, and a wooden stove. Sitting on the counter was a large bowl and three cups full of Pumpkin Juice, and a dishrag. Underneath the counter was a cabinet, and with one door open Albus could see a small pot, probably for washing dishes or cooking. Hagrid quickly hurried over to close the door, and put the mugs (along with the bowl) onto a small wooden tray, then carried it over to Albus. He set it down on the table and sat down across from the small boy, handing him a mug.

"I hope yer don' mind that I'm eatin' dinner," Hagrid said as he dug a spoon deep into the bowl.

"Not at all," Albus replied, taking a small sip from the glass. "But don't you eat dinner in the castle?"

"Not today," Hagrid replied emotionlessly. "I'm a wee bit sick, and I don' wanna make any of you kids sick."

When James came back from the loo, Albus started telling them about his first day. He told them about the teachers, the classes, and the friends he had made. He even told them that Myles made one of his fingers disappear in Charms. "The teacher brought it back though," he told them with a laugh.

"Can I ask you something?" James said a little while later, after Hagrid had disappeared upstairs to get Albus his present.

"Yep," Albus replied happily.

"I saw Maya earlier." He inspected his brother's face with an eyebrow raised. "She was acting . . . different."

Albus sighed. He knew Hagrid would want to hear about it, so he simply said, "I'll tell you about it when Hagrid gets back." He raised his hand, gnawed on one of his fingernails, and finally heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Hagrid set the present before Albus. It was a dark brown box with a light blue ribbon, and it could easily fit into his pocket with buldging. He slowly removed the ribbon, set it aside, and pulled the lid off of the box. He looked inside, but alas, he saw nothing.

"Hagrid," Albus said slowly, "there's nothing in here."

"Keep lookin'," Hagrid said with a cheeky smile.

Albus took out the layer of cotton and underneath was a small ring. It was solid gold, with small drawings engraved into it, and it fit perfectly around his finger. He was staring at it intently when Hagrid told him it was made out of the same material as an old artifact of his father's. Albus looked up at Hagrid and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," Hagrid said, leaning back.

"Can you tell us about Maya now?" James asked irritably, waving a sugar quill in the air.

"That's the girl yeh were with, right?" Hagrid asked.

Albus nodded.

"Spit it out, Al!" James cried.

Albus nodded. "Maya and I were on our way to class. We were talking about how I, um, missed Rose, and she gave me a hug because she knew that I was sad. Sidney Webster, the girl who was sorted into Slytherin last night, came up behind us and started teasing us. She, uh, said were in love and she made kissy-faces and stuff." He itched the back of his neck. "Maya told her to shut up, and Sidney called her a mudblood."

"No way!" James exclaimed. Hagrid did not say anything, he just shook his head.

"That's an insult," James said, "and a terrible one at that. Did she cry?"

Albus nodded. Why was his brother asking so many questions? "Of course," he said. "Then she ran off, down the hall."

James shook his head. "Sidney might not show up to class tomorrow," he growled.

"Now, don' yeh try anythin'," Hagrid warned steadily.

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah? And why not?"

"The teachers won't take it kindly if you slip her some Nosebleed Nougat," Albus said, "or turn her nose into a duck's beak. You can't get down to the Slytherin common room, anyway."

James stood up, glared at his brother, then walked out the door and slammed it behind him. Albus quickly scrambled up, already making his way to the door, but Hagrid grabbed his arm before he could exit. "Leave 'im," he said, pulling the younger boy onto his chair again. "He needs ter blow off some steam. Then yeh can talk to 'im."

For the next few minutes, Albus told more stories about his first day. Hagrid listened, never interrupting, never correcting the young boy's grammar, as his own was quite horrid. After he finished telling him about his day, Hagrid told him stories about his own first day. They were quite funny; in fact, by the time Hagrid was done talking, Albus' eyes were watering and he couldn't keep a straight face. After pulling himself together, he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and gave Hagrid a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, releasing him. Hagrid wished him farewell and watched as Albus scurried up the slope. He watched him dodge rocks and jump over stumps. He watched until he was nothing but a speck in the distance.

* * *

Albus carelessly swung his fork around in front of him as James chattered on with one of his friends. Since Maya hadn't arrived, Albus had to sit with his brother. Although he would normally find the conversation they were having fascinating, he was too busy watching Sidney talking to a tall, black-haired Slytherin boy. Their heads were bowed as if they were praying. Of course, this is not what they were doing, Albus knew that, and he also knew that it wasn't good because they kept looking up at him and smiling evilly. Turning away, Albus felt a tap on his shoulder.

A boy stood behind him holding a small plate of food. His gray eyes, which were actually very pretty, were hidden behind scratched-up glasses. His hair was patted down on one side and sticking in all directions on the other. He had fair skin, and light freckles dotted his face and neck. This was Myles, of course. His lips only moved slightly when he spoke. "Can I sit with you?"

Albus nodded, hurriedly moving over so the boy had enough room to sit. He did so, and although no pleasantries were exchanged for the first few seconds, it was nice to have someone sitting with him so he didn't feel as lonely. Albus looked at Myles out of the corner of his eye, curious, and watched as he munched on a piece of lettuce. He calmly cleared his throat. The boy looked up, startled, and a goofy grin spread across his face. "Was that you?"

"Nope," Albus replied with an equally goofy smile.

They sat in silence for another few moments. Albus crunched on a piece of garlic bread while Myles finished his salad and pushed the plate away. He fiddled with his thumbs in his lap before speaking again. "Where are you from, Albus?"

Albus wondered how Myles knew his name, then quickly realized that he had probably heard it while they were in the train car and also probably heard it when he was being sorted. "Surrey," he said quietly.

"Cool," Myles replied.

"Where are you from?"

"Ireland."

"Oh, awesome!" Albus said enthusiastically.

Just then, Maya walked in. She looked perfectly fine; she even had two girls trailing behind her, exchanging whispers and watching her take a seat on the left hand side of Albus. The other two girls sat beside her, and grabbed food off of a nearby plate before speaking in low voices once more.

"Albus, this is Felecity and Felecia. They're twins," she said.

Albus peeked over Maya's head. "Nice to meet you, ladies," he said.

"Nice to meet you," they replied in unison.

"Felecia, Felecity, this is Myles." Albus pointed to his new friend, who gave a goofy wave, and smiled. The two twins waved back, then returned to their whispering. "You already know him, right, Maya?" he asked and she replied with a nod. Albus crunched on another piece of garlic bread as he watched the twins.

They were very pretty. They had dark brown hair (one had her hair pulled back into a braid, the other a ponytail), and each one had bangs hanging over her forehead. The one with the braid was wearing glasses, the other was not. Albus mentioned this to Maya, who claimed that Felecity was the one with the glasses. They were tanned, with no moles or freckles, and had thin brown eyebrows arching over their wide green eyes, giving them a constant look of surprise. Albus grinned at this; it was actually very cute. But neither were as pretty as Maya.

Soon, dinner was over, and the five of them headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. The twins hung back and walked with Myles, talking about Herbology, and Albus and Maya took the lead, not saying a single word. By the time they were in the Gryffindor common room, the other three vanished, leaving Maya and Albus to make small talk as they lowered themselves onto a plush red couch. Maya sat far away from him, and whenever he inched closer she inched farther away. He flopped his feet onto a footstool, leaned back, and closed his eyes. She giggled, giving in and scootching closer. They listened to the fire crackle and burn, sitting in a state of peaceful tranquility. Of course, as soon as they were both slowly drifting off to sleep, James and his friends made a loud appearance in the common room. The two, annoyed, the goodnight and went their separate ways to the dorm rooms.

A few hours later, Albus lay on his bed, covers wrapped around his body. Every other boy in the room was sleeping, and he was trying to make himself sleep, because he was really quite tired. But his body just wouldn't give in. He sighed, rolling onto his back, and stared up at the ceiling. A boy next to him snored, flopping over and letting his hand rest itself of Albus' bed. Albus simply moved over, carefully avoiding the hand. He flipped onto his side, closed his eyes, and soon enough, with the help of wishing, he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**If this story reaches one hundred views by tomorrow morning, I will upload the next chapter as soon as I get home from school. And don't just read; review, favourite, and follow! Thanks!**

**-Marina**

**Chapter Three**

"Have you seen Rose since the incident?"

It was Albus's third day at Hogwarts when Maya asked this question. They were in Potions class, his least favourite class, and they were taking notes on certain ingredients for potions, what they did, and what potions they were used in. They had been working for over a half an hour and she hadn't said anything before that, so the abrupt question startled him.

"Um . . . No," Albus said, "but I'm sure I will." He glanced over at Sidney, who was trying to catch his attention by pretending she was Maya, crying. He looked over at Scorpius, too, but the blonde boy was watching him silently, not doing an impression like the girl beside him. When Scorpius saw that Albus was watching him as well he quickly looked away.

"Why does Scorpius hang out with Sidney if he doesn't like her?" Albus whispered to Maya a few minutes later, glaring at his potion.

"I think their parents are friends," she whispered back, scribbling something down on the parchment. "His dad probably made him hang out with her or something. Or maybe he just hangs out with her because he pities the fact the she's unlikable and hardly has any friends," she mused.

After tucking their parchment away in their bags and bidding their teacher farewell, the two made their way up to the Charms classroom. Maya told Albus how beautiful she though the grounds were, and Albus hastily agreed. Albus also told Maya about how James wanted to slip Sidney a Nosebleed Nougat for her, and Maya just smiled. "How sweet of him," she murmured.

Before they arrived, though, Sidney's voice rang out throughout the hallway. "Oh look, it's the Potter-Allen couple." She stalked up behind them, put a hand on each of their shoulders, and shoved her head in between theirs. "Having a fun day, you two lovebirds?"

"Shut up, Sidney," Albus muttered, yanking himself out of her grasp.

Sidney just giggled, and squeezed Maya's shoulder even harder. "I asked you a question, Mr. Lovebird, and I would like it if you actually answered."

"It was a fun day before you showed up," came Maya's defiant reply.

"Oh, really?" Sidney chirped, her voice high. "And how is it now?"

"Horrible," Maya answered, her head held high.

"And why is that-" Sidney began, but Scorpius cut her off.

"Leave them alone, Sidney."

Sidney whirled around and stared at Scorpius, an eyebrow raised. "And what happens if I don't, Scorpius?"

"I'll have to tell your parents," Scorpius replied with a small smirk.

Sidney backed away from the three of them. "There's no need for that," she muttered, hands raised with her palms facing them. "None at all." And with that, she shoved past them and ran down the hallway, not bothering to look back.

"Thanks, Scorpius," Maya said cheerfully, turning to face him.

"Yeah, man, that was awesome," Albus added.

Scorpius didn't say anything, though Albus noted that he looked slightly pleased. With a curt nod at the two, he swept past, his long robes fluttering behind him as he walked swiftly down the hallway. After nudging Albus with her elbow, Maya murmured, "Remind me to get to know him better." Albus gave her a smile and a nod, and they continued making their way to the classroom.

* * *

Though there was an immense pile of books and parchment littering one of the corner tables in the Gryffindor common room, Albus and Maya were still conversing. They had agreed beforehand that they would try not to talk too often, as they needed to get their work done, but it was absolutely no use. Fifteen minutes into their work, they were trading adjectives to describe their homework, without great difficulty so far.

"Horrid," said Maya.

"Cruel," replied Albus.

"Disgusting," added Maya.

"Evil," muttered Albus.

"Repulsive," murmured Maya.

"Bad."

Maya looked up from her essay for History of Magic.

"Bad? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm really tired, Maya," Albus said with a yawn, "so cut me some slack."

"Go to bed, then," Maya replied, sounding tired as well.

It was half past eleven and most of the Gryffindors had disappeared up to bed. The only reason Albus and Maya were still awake is because they spent most of their evening visiting Hagrid, and therefore wasted the time when they could've been doing some homework.

After Maya had heard Albus went to visit Hagrid without her, Maya begged and begged until Albus finally caved in and said he would make another surprise visit. This was over dinner, of course, and Maya wanted to try Hagrid's rock cakes. At first, she tried to starve herself so she could have plenty of them, but Albus told her that they actually tasted and were as hard as rocks. She then piled her plate high with quesadillas and ate them happily.

When they had arrived, Hagrid planted a plate of rock cakes in front of the three (James had come along, as well), and Albus tried to pretend to eat them even though he was actually stuffing them in his pockets, as to not hurt the man's feelings. James and Maya let Albus do the dirty work, of course, and exchanged cheeky grins as he shoved rock cake after rock cake into his already-bulging pockets.

"So yer the famous Maya, are yeh?" Hagrid had said after he settled down, watching her as she sipped from her mug of tea.

"I am Maya, but I'm pretty sure I'm not famous," said Maya with a chuckle.

"James and Albus talked about yeh quite a lot," Hagrid told her with a wink. She giggled, James smirked, and Albus felt a blush rise into his cheeks. He looked down so none of them would see.

"And how was yer day, Maya?" asked Hagrid.

"Okay, I guess," Maya had replied rather coldly as she ran her finger around the rim of her mug, looking down into the brown broth.

"You were bothered by Sidney again, weren't you?" James muttered, taking a sip from his own cup of tea.

"How did you know?" she asked hotly, turning to him.

"Albus told me," James replied, "and before he told me you were acting kinda different, too. I knew it had to be one of those stuck-up Slytherins. But my first bet was personally Malfoy."

"For your information, James, _Scorpius_ saved our necks today," Maya snapped.

The moment she said it, her frown fell into an apologetic smile and she scratched the back of her neck with her hand. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Not a problem," James had said, heaving his glass into the air and taking a sip.

Albus glared at Maya over a pile of his books. "I still have tons to do," he muttered, her gaze flickering back to his essay. "And so do you, right?"

"Just Charms and Transfiguration," she replied. She picked up her wand (vine with unicorn hair, twelve inches, very springy) and started waving it around in the air, muttering spells to herself while looking at the cup in front of her.

After several minutes of listening to non-stop muttering, Albus looked up and growled, "Can't you do that somewhere else? Like, across the room?" He pointed to a table on the opposite side of the room beside his brother, who was awake and thinking of pranks with his friends.

Maya stared at him, her mouth open, and Albus immediately regretted his decision. "Sorry," he muttered, "I'm just a little tired."

"More than a little," Maya replied, standing up and piling her books into her bookbag. "I don't need to do anymore anyway. I think I got it," she murmured, smiling feebly at him. "Don't stay up to late, okay?" she added as she crossed the room to the dorms. "I don't want you growling at me again." And with that, she disappeared up the stairs.

Albus shook his head and let his hands fall into his lap. _Just a couple more minutes, Albus, _he told himself. _Not too much longer. You don't want to hurt Maya's feelings again. _After he finished his essay (he was bound to get a 'D') and practiced his Transfiguration and Charms homework, he packed his books into his bag and tucked his wand (pine and phoenix feather, nine and a half inches, slightly springy) into his robes. With a last glance at his brother and his friends, he fled into the boy's dormitory and soon fell asleep.

* * *

"Nice to meet you, Clarice," Albus said sleepily, throwing her a smile.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Clarice muttered, checking her nails.

It was the next morning, and Albus had been shocked when Maya came over and introduced this girl to him. She was quite pretty, actually, with her dark, cherry red hair and dark brown eyes. He would most likely be into her if he didn't like Maya, in fact, but there was one thing he didn't think was nice about her; she was extremely negative. She could take anything and everything and turn it into something bad. Maya had said the Clarice had dropped her books in the hallway and she couldn't carry them all, so she needed help taking them to Great Hall, and then to her classes. Since Maya and her had the same first class, she offered to help her take them around until they parted ways. After they collected all of the books, they went to the Great Hall, where Maya introduced her to Albus.

"She seems . . . nice," Albus said a few minutes later after Clarice had went to the Ravenclaw table.

"Al, I can tell you don't like her," Maya muttered.

"Well, maybe I just have to get to know her a bit better," Albus replied.

"Yeah, maybe," Maya said.

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Myles approached them and slid in to the seat next to them. He seemed to have cleaned up a bit; his haired was combed and his glasses looked much, much better. This created many questions from Maya and Albus until they say him wave and Felecity and Felecia, who were entering the Great Hall at the moment, and it suddenly struck them that he probably liked them. With cheeky grins, Maya and Albus got up and left the Great Hall and took a seat in the hallway outside.

"I think they'll be cute together," Maya murmured as she watched Scorpius trail into the Great Hall.

"He can't date both of them, Maya," Albus replied with a laugh.

"I know, but he'll have to choose one of them, right?" Maya asked.

"Yup," Albus answered. "Poor guy."

"Yeah," Maya agreed.

Soon enough, students from all houses started heading to their first class. After seeing the group of Gryffindor first-years heading to the Greenhouses, Maya and Albus sprang to their feet and shuffled along behind two sixth-years who were chattering about which guy they liked more. Albus nudged Maya and snorted, and Maya dug her face in her hands to try and stop her uncontrollable fit of giggles.

The rest of the day went by unreasonably smoothly. Sidney didn't bug them once, but this could also be because Scorpius was trailing behind her the entire day and making sure she didn't try anything; nothing particularly bad happened during the classes, though one kid in his Charms class said the wrong thing and floated to the ceiling; and Albus got an 'A' on an essay he handed in an earlier class. After showing this to Maya and learning that she got an 'E', they started to make their way back to the Great Hall for dinner.

When they arrived, a large cluster of students were surrounding the end of the Gryffindor table, and although both of them stood on their tip-toes to see what was happening the crowd was too large. So, after putting their bags down somewhere near the middle, Maya and Albus started to approach the other kids.

". . . and I can tell where people are in the castle anytime I want," Albus could hear James saying. "For example, I know that my brother is approaching us right now." A small path cleared between the kids, and in the middle of the crowd was James, one of his friends, and a weird looking piece of parchment. With a grin, James waved his brother over, and motioned for him to sit down.

"Now shoo," he said to the crowd, flapping his hand at them.

"What was that about?" Maya asked as she slid into a seat beside Albus.

"This," James said, holding up the parchment.

On the parchment were the words, 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, are proud to present The Marauders Map.' At first, Albus had no idea what this was - all it looked like was a piece of parchment. But after James looked around to see if any teachers were watching (they weren't, obviously, as they were absorbed in conversation with one another), he flipped open the map.

It was amazing. On the piece of parchment was every single hallway, room, nook, and cranny in Hogwarts, and if seeing every single place wasn't enough you could also see every single person. Little figures danced about the map, and attached to one of their small legs was a ribbon with their name. James pointed to a room labelled the 'Great Hall,' and pointed to three ribbons with their names on them. After seeing all this, Albus stared at his brother, open-mouthed. Next to him, Maya did the same.

"What is this thing?" Albus asked.

"The Marauder's Map, Al. The Marauder's Map," James said with a tight nod and a wicked grin.

"And what does it do, exactly?" Maya murmured.

"You can track people whenever you want," James answered. "For example, Sidney Webster is in the Slytherin Common room, Scorpius Malfoy is in the hallway outside, and Rose is right over there." He pointed to the red-haired girl across the room.

"Where'd you get it from?" Albus asked in awe.

"Stole it from dad's office," James replied.

"When?" Albus said.

"The day before we left," James answered.

"Why?" Maya asked.

"Because it's useful," James responded.

"To do what, stalk people?" Albus said. "Isn't that a little creepy, James?"

"It's useful, Albus," James retorted. "What if I needed to find someone to help me with homework? Maya, for example? Instead of wandering aimlessly around the castle, I could just use the map to find her."

"You wouldn't need help doing homework if you listened in class," Maya shot at him.

"I do listen in class, Maya," James said, reaching up and ruffling her hair. "It's not always that easy."

"Don't touch my hair," Maya muttered.

"Either way, Al, it's useful and I'm not getting rid of it." James shoved the map into his pocket, grabbed his friend by the elbow, and shot the two of them a smile before moving further down the table.

Immediately after he was out of earshot, Maya turned to Al. "You cannot use that," she warned him as he grabbed a hamburger and put it on his plate. "It's dangerous, and if a teacher finds it you'll definitely get into trouble!"

"Maya," Albus said calmly, turning to her, "I won't use it unless it's under dire circumstances. I promise," he added as he raised his hand into the air and put his other hand over his heart.

"Well, fine," she said with a laugh. "But don't even stop to think about blaming me if you get detention."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The next couple of days came and went. Sidney bothered Albus and Maya once or twice, though Scorpius managed to stop her before it got too serious; Albus got a couple disappointing marks for homework; Felecia and Felicity got caught trying to sneak out of the Gryffindor Common Room to go for a walk at one a.m.; and Maya still scolded James on why he shouldn't use the map.

"It dangerous," she told him late Friday afternoon as she followed him and Albus down to Hagrid's for tea. "What if one of the ghosts see it?"

"Then I'll threaten them and say that I'll tell the teachers they've been stealing student possessions," James replied, glancing around and looking at her. "And don't tell me you didn't want to use it either, because I saw you eying it when I first showed it to you and Al."

The cool wind whipped her light blonde hair across her face and thin dark clouds hung from the dim gray sky. The walk down to Hagrid's was not enjoyable, as the sky was threatening to rain any moment, and all three of the young kids hoped that they would make it inside before it started to pour. This, of course, did not happen, and by the time they reached the door they were already soaked to the bone.

"Come in, come in!" Hagrid said, ushering the children inside his home. "An' go sit by the fire, too, while I make yeh some tea."

All three of the kids slipped out of their incredibly wet jackets, dropped them onto the ground, and ran over to huddle together by the blazing fire.

"Thanks, Hagrid," Albus said as the older man handed him a mug with tea in it.

"Yeah, thanks," Maya said, sipping from her own cup.

"So, how was the res' of yer week?" Hagrid asked, sitting down on the couch and munching on a rock cake.

"Fine," Albus replied.

"Alright," Maya said.

"Great!" James beamed.

Maya and Albus whipped around to face him. "And why was that, exactly?" Maya asked, taking another sip of her tea.

"Well, let's just say Sidney might be spending her night in the hospital wing," James said mischievously, his eyes twinkling.

"James," Maya started, "what did you-"

"Oh, nothing _bad,_" James stated, setting his mug down on the ground as he ran a hand through his hair. "I just slipped her some Nosebleed Nougat."

"James!" Maya exclaimed. "I told you-"

"Maya, she deserves everything she gets," James said coldly. "And you two can have your weekend in peace without her bothering you."

"I was going to spend my weekend in the library, anyway," Maya said. "She would probably too busy sharpening her fangs to do any studying."

James stared at her, open-mouthed. Albus gave a hearty laugh and grinned at her. Hagrid, meanwhile, stared out the window.

"Yeh kids migh' wanna be headin' back ter school soon," he muttered.

"Why?" Maya asked, turning to him. "Why can't we stay here for a bit longer?"

"Well, it's gonna start rainin' even more soon an' I don' want yeh kids to have to stay here until it clears up," he answered. "Yer gonna have to run, though, 'cause yer gonna get soaked to the bone otherwise."

After pulling on their already-sopping jackets and bidding Hagrid farewell, the three students ran out into the pouring rain.

"When on earth is it going to clear up?" Maya muttered gloomily, staring out one of the windows in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I have no idea," Albus replied, face in his hands.

Maya moved swiftly from one end of the room to the other, sitting beside Albus and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You all right, Al?" she asked quietly.

"Fine," Albus replied, pulling back and letting his hands fall into his lap.

"Come on, Al, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Albus murmured.

"Tell me, Al," Maya said.

Albus picked up a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Here," he muttered.

_Albus,_

_ Congrats on being sorted into Gryffindor! Your mother and I are very proud of you. We hope you're doing well, also._

_We heard from Ron and Hermione that Rose has been sorted into Ravenclaw and that you're not taking it to well. Nothing'll change, bud, but I need you to maybe try and get her talking to you again. Apparently she hasn't been taking your argument too well. She doesn't have a lot of friends either, Ron tells me, and so I need you to introduce her to a couple of people as well. I'm not expecting you to make up right now, but I need to do it soon so she doesn't get to lonely._

_ On another note, James tells us that you have gotten a couple of bad marks on your homework. We need you to work a little bit harder, Al! Spend less time going down to Hagrid's and more time working on your studies. In fact, if you get this before the weekend is over, try and make a trip or two to the library, and maybe not take a friend, as it might distract you._

_ We're sorry that we have to ask a lot of you, but we would like you to do your best at your first year at Hogwarts! _

_ Please send a letter back soon,_

_ Mum and Dad._

"It's not that bad, Al," Maya said, putting the paper down.

"I'm not ready to make up with Rose," Albus muttered in reply.

"You're going to have to," Maya said with a sigh. "And again, it's not that bad. Just work a little harder, like your dad says, and everything'll be fine!"

Albus snorted. "I can't concentrate that well, and Dad knows it. Mum probably made him write that part, anyway. He says he didn't do too well in school."

"He wants you to do better than he did. That's why he's saying it."

"You don't know that," Albus muttered.

"Well, if you insist on not doing better in school, at least work on apologizing to Rose."

"Why?" Albus demanded. "She didn't tell me she wanted to be in Ravenclaw, and if she told me herself before the sorting I would've understood."

"Really?" Maya asked. "Because even if she did, I don't think you would've taken it that well." She stood up, gave him a sheepish smile, and exited the room.

At lunch time, Albus slowly made his way down to the Great Hall, his head tilted to the floor. Though he was trying to think of a way to apologize to Rose, he just couldn't think of the right words. _Rose, I . . . _He shook his head. _Can you ever forgive . . . no, that's not it. _He shook his head again and walked through the large-double doors.

Maya was sitting at the Gryffindor table, sitting across from Felecia, Felecity and Myles while chatting up some kid Albus had only seen once. He struggled to think of when, until it hit him: This boy was also a first-year. Pushing his way through the students exiting the room, he tried to keep his head above the crowd as best as possible.

"Hey, Maya," he greeted when he finally arrived in front of her.

"Oh, hey Al," Maya said distractedly, not taking her gaze off of the boy in front of her.

He was very good-looking. He had thick, sandy blonde hair that fell over his forehead like a curtain. The tips of his bangs tickled his dark black eyelashes that framed his grass green eyes. His was very tall, much taller than Albus and probably taller than Maya, and his height made up for his weight, as he was very skinny. He had tanned skin, and although you could slightly see his freckles, there wasn't a single other blemish on his face.

"I'm Grant," the boy said, turning to Albus and holding out his hand for a shake.

"Albus," Albus replied, shaking his hand.

"Grant's in Hufflepuff," Maya said, finally turning to Albus.

"We used to be next-door neighbours," Grant added.

Albus's stomach churned. Of course, the boy would have feelings for Maya, and seemed to Albus like she had feelings for him as well. Trying to hide his sadness by plastering a grin on his face, Albus took a seat beside Maya and listened as her and Grant talked.

"How long has it been, like, three years?" Albus heard Maya say.

"Four, I think," Grant corrected her.

"Feels like three," Maya said with a giggle.

Albus tried to block out their constant flirting as he ate his way through lunch. It was quite annoying actually, but maybe that was just because it wasn't him she was flirting with. Once or twice, he looked up and saw the twins exchanged cheeky grins while staring at her and Grant. Looking around to find something else to do, he saw Rose enter the Great Hall.

Alone.

"I'll see you in the common room later, okay?" Albus said as he started to stand.

"Okay," Maya said quietly, then returned to her conversation with Grant.

Albus moved slowly towards Rose. He tried to make sure she didn't seem him before-hand and glare at him by hiding behind students and occasionally stopping and turning to face the other direction. By the time he reached her, a few minutes had past, and she was flipping through the _Daily Prophet._

"Can I have a word, Rose?" he said timidly.

Rose looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy and had large bags underneath them. She studied him for a moment, as if to see if he was kidding, before nodding and standing up. "'Course," she said, and led him out of the room.

She leaned against a wall and stared at him. "So, have you finally come to your senses and though about apologizing?" she muttered, clearing a lock of bright red hair from her porcelain face.

"Yup," Albus said, watching her as he paced back and forth. He stopped, took a deep breath, and stared into her face like he had so many times before.

"I'm sorry," he said lamely. He tried to make more words come out, but they just . . . wouldn't.

"That's it?" Rose demanded.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "It was mean what I did to you. I just thought we told each other everything, and I was only angry because it was a shock that you were sorted into Ravenclaw and that you were happy about it. I always thought of you as a Gryffindor, and I guess if I knew beforehand that you wanted to choose Ravenclaw then I would've been less angry. I know it might sound like I'm blaming you, but I'm not. I just really, really miss you, and not to mention that fact that I feel lost without you."

Rose stared at him, as if unsure how to answer or what to say. But then she peeled herself off of the wall, walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him. He gratefully hugged her back.

"That was such a lame apology but I don't care," she said, pulling away. He sawher tears leaving trails along her pale cheeks. "I've missed you, too, in case it makes you feel any better. Being without you is so rotten."

"Is that why your eyes were red and puffy before?" he asked, reaching up and wiping her tears away with his thumb.

"Yeah," she said. Something about her confession sounded off, but Albus ignored it; he was just happy to have her back.

"I'm just so happy to have another friend because it seems like Maya's found another one," he muttered, jamming his thumbs into his back pockets.

"What?" Rose said.

"She was chatting up this guy she used to know," Albus said. "I'm pretty sure he liked her, and I think she had the same feelings in return."

"God, Albus, are you blind?" Rose said. "She likes you! She couldn't keep her eyes off of you in the train!"

"Feelings can change, Rose," Albus replied. "And if she ever liked me, those feelings are gone."

* * *

After dinner, Albus and Maya started making their way down to Professor Longbottom's chambers. He had just remembered that James made a promise to his mother that he would send the professor 'love.' He knew James wouldn't actually do it, no matter what, and there was absolutely no way that Albus would do it during class when Sidney Webster might overhear. Peeking out from underneath the dark cloak the two were hidden under, Albus reached up and rapped a knuckle against the door.

A small panel slid aside, revealing a glassless window and a quarter of the face of a man, who was, as you might've guessed, Neville Longbottom.

"Who is it?" Neville said, looking down at the two kids.

"Albus Potter and Maya Allen, sir," Albus squeaked. "I've come to give you a visit."

Neville flung opened the door and beamed at the two kids. "Harry's son, eh?" he said as he ushered the two children inside his quarters. "I've had you in my class this week, correct? I thought I would say something but I didn't want to cause an uproar." He motioned to two small chairs pressed against a wall. "Please, sit," he added.

The two kids sat down.

Albus had met Neville quite a few times; on his frequent trips to Diagon Alley, some holidays like Christmas, and once when they bumped into him on the streets of London. He was a kind man, and although Albus didn't know him that well he quite enjoyed his company.

"This must be a friend of yours," Neville said, smiling at Maya.

"Maya Allen, sir," Maya said, bowing her head slightly.

"Now there's no need for that," Neville laughed.

"Sorry," Maya murmured, looking over at Albus.

"'S not a problem," Neville replied. "Would you like some tea?"

For the next hour, Albus, Neville, and Maya talked about the kids' first week at Hogwarts over steaming mugs of hot milk. Although Albus told Neville almost everything, he discreetly left out the part of Sidney bullying him and knew that if he did Neville would contact his parents. Albus did not need that hanging over him as well.

"Mum sends her love," Albus told Neville after being there for an hour and a half. "I would've come earlier in the week but I had a lot of homework."

"Teachers aren't going too easy on ya, are they?" Neville said, sipping from his mug.

"I guess it could've been worse," said Maya, shrugging. "I don't have a problem with it but I don't think Albus can keep focused on it long enough."

Albus laughed, but it was weak. "Yeah . . ."

After bidding their kind teacher a farewell and giving him the empty mugs back, Maya and Albus slipped under the cloak, walking quietly along the corridor while leaving Neville behind, waving at them and telling them to come back another time. Once out of earshot, Albus turned to her and muttered, "Try not to tell him things like that next time, okay?"

"Why not?" Maya asked, also turning to face him. "Because you're afraid he might tell your parents?"

"Yes, actually," Albus muttered in reply.

As they approached the painting of the Fat Lady, they slowed down. Both of them were out of breath, as they were walking so fast because they were eager to get back to the Common Room, and taking the time to breathe in and out slowly was a relief. Breathing hard through his nose, Albus turned to Maya, who gave him a cheeky grin. They shed the cloak, and just as Albus flung it over his shoulder, he heard someone say, "Well, where were you two off to?"

Both of the kids turned around to see Sidney Webster and two of her cronies emerging from the shadows.

"None of your business, Webster," Maya said scornfully.

"Well, I could tell the teachers that you were out of your bed late, and then it would be my business," came Sidney's reply, and Albus could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Wouldn't you get in trouble as well?" came a cold, distant voice. "Because it seems to me that you're out of bed late, as well."

Scorpius whirled around the corner and leaned against a wall with his arms crossed, his platinum blonde hair shining in the dim candlelight of the long, almost-empty hallway.

"Why did you follow me?" Sidney growled, whipping around.

"Because I wondered what you were up to at this time of night," Scorpius replied nonchalantly. "These two were probably visiting a friend of Albus's father's, while you were coming to, well, what? Beat them up? Hang them by their ankles?"

"It's none of your business what I do," Sidney replied.

"Well, it is if I get the teachers involved," Scorpius answered, and when Albus heard the grin on his face he didn't care.

"You wouldn't," Sidney snarled.

"Oh," Scorpius said, "but I would."

"Come on guys," Sidney said, motioning her friends forward. "But let me tell you this: You can't always be here for your little lion friends." And with that, she stalked off, leaving the three other kids alone in the hallway.

"Thanks a lot," Maya said, walking closer to Scorpius.

"That's twice you've saved us now," Albus added, also coming closer.

"Not a problem," Scorpius replied, a grin on his pale, pointed face.

"Why are you doing this?" Albus blurted out a minute later.

"I just wanna be better than my father," Scorpius replied flatly. "He wasn't too popular as a kid because he was mean. I just wanted to be nicer than he was."

"Well, thank God you want to," Maya said, "or we might be in St. Mungo's right now." All three of them shuddered.

"No one would want that," Scorpius muttered.

"Well, I don't think that-" Maya started, but cut herself off and looked to the ground. Albus made a mental note to see if she was okay later.

"I'll always be around, anyway," Scorpius continued. "I don't trust her enough to let her out of my eyesight."

"If she's as dumb as people say she is she probably doesn't even notice," Maya muttered darkly. The two boys looked at her, and then laughed.

"I should get going," Scorpius said a moment later. "It's almost ten and I still have some homework to do."

"The three of us could get together and do it in the library tomorrow," Maya suggested, beaming at them. "We have some of the homework from the same classes, too, so we could help each other."

"We'll see," Scorpius said with a sly smile. With a last small wave at the two of his new friends, he slid from view.

Maya and Albus walked down the corridor in silence. Albus, too preoccupied with his thoughts, did not speak. He had yet to ask Maya about why she cut herself off; he wondered how long Sidney was waiting in the corridor for them; he also wondered how she knew that they were out of the tower. Whispering the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady, he looked around before entering the common room with Maya at his side.

* * *

Albus sat at one of the tables in the library, a sheet of parchment in front of him and a quill hanging from his right hand. He had been sitting like this for several minutes, and although he did wonder if Scorpius and Maya were looking at him oddly, he just shrugged it off and continued thinking about his letter.

He was going to reply to his parents' letter he had gotten earlier that weekend. He was trying to keep it short and simple, but everytime he started, it got too lengthy and descriptive and found himself rambling on about things he disliked about the school. There was not many, but it didn't matter: he shouldn't be complaining at all.

"Here, Al, just let me write it," Maya said after watching him struggle for over fifteen minutes. She was nearly drowning in letters that he thought were not good enough, were too long, or were written too poorly, along with Scorpius, but he didn't seem as irritated.

"It's fine, Maya," Albus said, shrugging off her suggestion.

"Come on, Al, please," Maya begged, "it's bothering the crap outta me."

Albus shook his head and rolled up his sleeves.

"Come on!" Maya repeated. "Please! I'll keep it short and sweet!"

Madam Pince, the librarian, peeked her head out from behind a stack of books and hushed them.

"Fine," Maya muttered, flipping a page in her book and copying something down on to her own piece of parchment.

Albus pressed the quill onto the parchment and started scribbling down some words. Minutes later, he picked it up, examined it, and smiled. It was his best copy yet.

_ Mum and Dad,_

_ I'm doing well. Hogwarts is great - and I'm not just talking about the food, Mum. The grounds are beautiful and the castle is nice and old, and what I've experienced so far is that in empty hallways it's surprisingly cool. I don't know if it's a charm or something or the lack of bodies but I never get hot._

_ In other news: I've made quite a bit of friends. I have this one girl as a friend, her name's Maya. She's awesome. She's so cheerful, too, and nothing can bring her down. I think I need that. I'm also friends with Scorpius Malfoy. Now don't start, you guys - he's been really, really nice to me. Maybe he's not like his dad, after all._

_ I talked to Professor Longbottom yesterday too, Mum. I told him you send your 'love' or whatever and then me and Maya stayed and had a nice chat with him. He's super cool, too. I'm happy he's here. Oh, and while we're talking about visits, I went down to Hagrid's a couple of times to visit. I like having him around, as well. He's nice._

_ Missing you,_

_ Albus._

_ P.S.: I'm in the library as I write this, Mum, taking a break from doing homework to write back!_

Albus read the letter several times over before stuffing it into his pocket. "I'll send it after dinner," he told his friends after seeing their surprised looks. After nodding, the three of them resumed working on their homework.

* * *

**So? Whaddya think? Do you like Scorpius, or do you not like him because of Draco or whatever? Eh, it honestly doesn't matter to me, but you'll be seeing plenty more of him in the future. He becomes a pretty big character later on. On another note . . . ****Oh, Sidney. Why must you be so mean? Oh, right; I wrote you like that. I told my friend about the story when I was first writing it and she told me to name the arch nemesis after her - her name is Sidney, as well. And I think she might be reading this, too, so I hope you enjoy it Siddy!**

**From here on out, new chapters will be updated at least every Saturday, and sometimes maybe other days if I just want to get the new chapter out. Also, what do you think Maya was going to say to her friends? Hmm? Seems pretty mysterious, eh? Well, you'll find out what she was going to say at Christmas - oops, have I said too much?**

**Like always, review, read, favourite and follow, and also feel free to leave your guess on what Maya was going to say along with a review you might make. Thanks for the views so far, guys, and I hope that I can hear from you guys sometime soon! 3**

**-Marina**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The weekend soon melted back into the week and it was time for classes. Albus with not excited at this prospect - not only had he done poorly on homework, but he didn't want to get any more - and while walking down to the Great Hall on Monday he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Don't worry, Al," Maya said reassuringly, patting him on the back. "It'll be over before you know it."

This was, in fact, one of the biggest lies Albus had ever heard in his entire life. By the time breakfast was over, it had already felt like a million years. It wasn't just the fact that Maya was drooling over Grant again, but the fact that after introducing Rose to him she fell in love as well. After gulping down some scrambled eggs and shoving down a piece of toast, he left the Great Hall faster than you could say 'annoyed.'

He bumped into Scorpius in the hallway, who had given him a small smile. "Hey, Albus," he greeted as he walked by.

"Hey, Scorpius," Albus murmured in reply.

Knowing he still had half an hour left until his classes, he walked through a corridor he had never walked through before. It was large, with candles hanging from the ceiling on little platforms every five meters, and mostly empty, except for a pair of two older students making out on the floor. In a hurry to get out of there, he ran down a short staircase, and soon found himself in the Great Hall again.

Albus strolled around outside in the courtyard. Just like the weekend, it was a muggy, windy day, and rain threatened to fall from the sky every single second. It was refreshing, though, after being cooped up in the castle for the weekend, and he breathed in and out with his arms spread like a bird. After hearing someone breathing behind him, he whirled around to see Clarice Falls standing there, a frown on her face.

"You look like a freak," she muttered, walking up and standing slightly behind him. "Put your arms down," she added, tugging one down without waiting for a reply.

"Well that's a little rude," Albus said.

"Whatever," Clarice murmured in reply, clearing hair from her face. Albus thought briefly for a moment that if she wasn't so negative he would like her, too, but shook the feeling away. He didn't even like thinking about what would happen if he liked two girls at the same time.

"Do you know Grant Mackey?" Albus burst out a few seconds later.

Clarice raised a dark red eyebrow at him. "Maybe, maybe not," she replied.

"Do you?" Albus asked again, turning around and stepping closer to her.

"I don't have to answer to you," Clarice sneered. "I'll see you later. Or never." And she stalked away.

Albus hurried back inside quickly, afraid of what would happen if he was late for his first class. The teacher didn't seem to mind, of course, but did take five points from Gryffindor. Feeling guilty, he sulked into his seat beside Maya.

"Where were you?"

"The courtyard," Albus responded.

Maya just shook her head, though he could see a smile slip onto her face.

After their classes, and after stopping and helping Myles picked up a small glass flask after dropping in the hallway outside of one of his classes, Maya and Albus made their way to the Great Hall. Maya was chattering on about something she had done with Grant when they were kids. Albus didn't hurry to listen.

Maya seemed disappointed, though, when Grant didn't come over and talk to her at lunch. In fact, she seemed even sadder when she saw him talking happily to Rose, who was leaning across the aisle to listen to him. Her face fell, and as she turned to grab a sandwich, Albus patted her on the back. "Don't worry," he said.

"I'm not worried," snarled Maya. She immediately regretted her decision, and looked down at her lap.

"It's fine, Maya," he said.

The afternoon went by even slower. Maya seemed constantly down that Grant did not talk to her at lunch, and although Albus tried to cheer her up, it was no use. Finally, after their last class had ended and they were slowly trudging back to the common room, Albus turned to her and said, "We should go to the lake!'

He had been dying to go down since he first arrived. After explaining it to her why they were going there and having her reluctantly agree, he grabbed her hand and ran through the castle to get to the lake.

Throughout the day, the weather had shifted. It was now sunny, shining onto the wet grass and dewy leaves, the wind had calmed down significantly, and the only clouds in sight were white and puffy, floating high above the grounds. Laughing as they made their way across the lawn, Maya and Albus liked the warmth after a long, cold weekend. After sitting down just a few meters away from the shore, Albus and Maya both took their homework out of their bags. Surprisingly, there wasn't as much as the week before, which was nice, and as they stretched out on the wet lawn, they opened their books and took out their parchment. Maya had already done some by the time Albus had finished his first assignment and looked at her in surprise.

"Boy, you work fast," he muttered, looking at her as she tucked her work back into her bag.

"I guess," Maya said, rolling her eyes.

"No, really," Albus added, sitting up taller. "Really, you do. I couldn't work like that in a million years."

Maya smiled sheepishly. "Thanks," she murmured, looking down at her hands.

Suddenly, Albus realized how hot it was. He shed his cloak and lay it on the grounds beside him, moving over and sitting on it like it was a picnic blanket. Shielding his eyes, Albus looked at the lake.

"I wish we could swim in it," he said longingly, to no one in particular.

A grin lit up Maya's face. "Who said we can't?"

After shedding her own cloak and taking off her shoes and socks, Maya rolled up Albus's pantlegs. "You might want to hold them up," she said as she stood, also shielding her eyes and looking out onto the water. "If they fall, there's nothing I can do." She gave him a lopsided grin before taking a deep breath and running straight into the water. She gave a little shriek but did not stop. Grinning, Albus followed her.

He had been swimming many times before, but never in water this cold. It was like having a bath in a tub full of ice cubes. The water stung like crazy, and after a while instead of stinging it felt like he was being burned. Letting out a small cry of pain, he caught up with Maya, and gasped for breath.

"Never mind," he said with a smile. "I don't want to swim in it."

Maya rolled her eyes and splashed him.

For the next ten minutes, Albus and Maya splashed each other with the burning water, laughing and smiling and having the time of the lives. Of course, it wasn't just that fact that being away from homework was nice; it was the fact that he was doing it with Maya. Now, more than ever, he suspected she liked him back. He didn't even stop to think about Grant or anyone else that might be interested in her, he just imagined how nice it would be if they were together.

Soon, they slowly made their way to the shore, arms around each other's shoulders. The two were both still smiling and laughing and occasionally splashing each other again. By the time they reached their things, they were both sopping wet, and they flung themselves onto the ground and watched the clouds float high above them.

"That one looks like a cat," Maya said, pointing to it.

"It's not a cat, Maya, it's an airplane," Albus corrected her, smiling.

"No, it's a cat," Maya laughed.

"No, it's an airplane," Albus replied.

"Whatever," Maya said. "I know I'm right."

She sat up and leaned over to her bag. Watching her with an eyebrow raised, Albus pushed himself off of the ground and saw her take out a book. Some spell book she got from the library, probably. "Whaddya doing?" he asked, peering at it as she flipped aimlessly through the pages.

"Looking for a spell that'll make us dry," Maya responded, not taking her eyes off of the book.

"Find anything?"

"Nothing," Maya said, closing the book and shoving it back into her bag. "Come on, then, let's get to dinner."

* * *

The rest of the week went by smoothly. Albus and Maya went down to the lake several more times, but only when it was sunny; Albus's grades improved slightly, as he started to try more; someone (probably James) slipped Sidney some more Nosebleed Nougat; Albus only saw Grant once or twice; and the homework seemed to have reduced significantly. Albus pointed this out to Maya, who waved it off and said that the teachers might want them to have a nice weekend while it was sunny.

And it sure was.

James, Rose, Myles, the twins, and Scorpius followed Maya and Albus as they led them down to the lake. On Monday, after arriving in the Great Hall soaking wet, they were bombarded with questions of how it happened. Of course, Albus and Maya had no reason to lie to their friends, so they told them the truth. Almost immediately after telling them, though, their friends begged and begged to let them come with them on the weekend. Excited, Maya and Albus agreed. Earlier in the week he had gotten a package of candy from his parents, as well, so he took the candy down with them.

All of them sat down on the shore. They all rolled up their pant legs and let the waves wash against them. It was still cold, too, but they didn't seem to mind, as the sun's heat beat down on them.

"So how was your week?" James asked his brother, who was dipping his feet in the water while sitting on a large boulder with Maya.

"Good," he answered, looking around at all his friends.

Rose and Scorpius seemed to be getting along fine, and Myles and the twins were playing with each other under the shade of a large tree. Smiling, Albus looked to Maya, who was tilting her head to the sun and not talking.

"And yours?" Albus asked a minute later, tearing open the bag of candy and inspecting one. Of course, it was a Chocoball. His family loved those. He popped one into his mouth and handed the bag to Maya, who took a handful and passed it to James.

"Fine," James answered through a mouthful of Chocoballs.

"And why was that?" Maya asked, an eyebrow raised.

"None of your business," James replied calmly.

Soon, it got so hot that they could hardly bear it. Everyone stripped off their shoes and socks, rolled up their pant legs (the girls were wearing skirts, of course, so there was no need for them to do so), and waded into the water. Every single one of them was in knee-deep. The twins screamed and ran back onto the shore, drying themselves off with one of the towels they brought, and the boys ganged up on Maya and Rose and started splashing them. The girls screamed and darted in different directions; laughing, Albus and James chased after Maya while Scorpius and Myles chased after Rose.

"Best day ever," James croaked after falling face-first into the lake. Albus laughed and helped him climb onto the shore.

Soon, the twins, Myles, and James made their way up to the castle, leaving Albus and his three other friends alone under the shade of a large tree hanging over the edge of the water. None of them said a word, as they were too tired, but Albus noticed Maya give him a small nudge as the sun set. Smiling back at her, he stood up and held out his hand.

She gripped it, stood up, and smiled at him before they all departed for the castle.

* * *

**So? How was that chapter? Was it great, was it good, did it suck incredibly horribly? Tell me in a review - if you're telling me it's not too good, though, please put it nicely.**

**Clarice is negative, huh? Like, very, very negative? Don't worry, she gets better as the book goes on. In the next book she doesn't even say rude things that often. She only says them a bit. Oh, and do you like Scorpius? Like most fanfics, him and Rose will get together, but not until later.**

**Much, much later.**

**Anyway; read, review, favourite, and follow!**

**-Marina**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Soon, a chilly September melted into a bitter October. Classes were getting unreasonably harder, days were shorter, and the weather became colder, and Albus didn't like it one bit. Harder classes and colder weather meant much more homework and not exploring the grounds as much, which was one of his favourite things. Of course, he still did it, but before he departed for the grounds he bundled himself in layer after layer of clothing. Maya started to spend more and more time with him, as well, as Grant was too busy having other girls swoon over them to spend more time with her. Albus always told her not to worry, that she was prettier than any single one of them and he was crazy not to notice. He was shy to say this, of course, but as Rose had told him, it would help Maya feel better. Of course, it did, too. Rose was always right.

Late one night in the Gryffindor common room, Albus sat at a table in the corner of the room, books and crumpled up pieces of parchment askew about the table around him. He had been finishing up an essay for Potions, working on some transforming spell for Transfiguration, practicing casting a spell for Charms, and reading some chapters in an old textbook for Defence Against the Dark Arts. This was not fun, but he did have Maya with him, and she made it much better.

"This is so boring!" Maya exclaimed, pushing her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook aside and shoving her face into her hands. "Why can't we practice defensive spells instead of reading about them?"

"Just you wait, Maya," James muttered, sitting on a plush armchair behind them, "It'll get so much better soon."

"Yeah, Maya," chirped Felecity from across the room, who was also reading from the same old textbook.

"I sure hope so," Maya said, sinking into her chair and closing her eyes.

By the time the clock struck twelve, all of the kids had gone upstairs except Maya and Albus. They sat beside each other in front of the fire, staring into it, saying nothing, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Albus looked over at her, and she looked at him. Their mouths twisted into smiles.

"Wanna go to the library tomorrow?" asked Albus.

"Totally," Maya responded. "I could ask Scorpius, too."

"And Rose," Albus added.

"I like how close we've gotten," Maya abruptly said a minute later. "Some people would kill for a relationship like this with a boy."

"Definitely," Albus said with a laugh.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" she asked.

"Having a party like every year," Albus responded, fingering a loose thread on his sleeve. "A dinner party, not a dance party," he added.

"What do you do at a dinner party?" Maya asked.

Albus opened his mouth to speak when a curious thought hit him. Why did she not know what dinner parties were like? Of course, her parents could be the kind who didn't like getting together with other people and hung out together, as a close family. Another thought hit him: he had never asked about her family. He didn't know if she had a brother, or a sister, or even if she had both parents . . .

"You get together with some close friends and have, well, dinner," Albus found himself saying. "At my house, we eat dinner, have dessert, and then play some games and watch muggle movies. We go outside, too, and have some drinks in the backyard."

Maya's expression suddenly became glum.

"What are you doing?" Albus asked.

"Staying here, I s'pose," Maya answered quietly.

Albus nodded, watching the flames lick the sides of the fireplace.

"I should get to bed," Maya said a couple of minutes later. "Night, Al."

As she headed upstairs, Albus stuck his head over the back of the chair and said, "Why don't you come to my place for Christmas?"

* * *

"God, you're a pig." Maya watched, disgusted, as James shoved chicken and vegetables down his throat.

"I'm hungry," James answered through a mouthful of meat. "I had to chase that cat of yours all day, so you shouldn't be complaining."

"It was your fault she was loose, anyway." Maya said hotly.

It was the Saturday before Halloween. Earlier that morning, James had taken Maya's cat from the common room, telling it sternly to find Sidney and claw her. Being a cat, it did not understand a single command, and the second James put it down on the ground it darted out of the castle and into the rain. Of course, Maya didn't know about it, as she was in the library with Albus and Scorpius, and James had not intended to tell her. She found out, though - Rose had been out visiting Hagrid and saw it rolling around in the wet grass. The second she tried to catch it, though, it ran away. Rose ran inside and found Maya, telling her that she saw her cat roaming the grounds. Maya knew it was James. After confronting him, she made him go out and catch it. She took his wand, too. Albus didn't intend on helping him, either, because he knew that the punishment fit the crime. Maya hid the wand in her trunk and only gave it to him after he caught the cat and gave it back to her. Maya had been angry with him since.

"Well I wanted to claw your enemy's eyes out for you, so thanks for thanking me," James said bitterly, ripping a piece of chicken off of his drumstick.

"Do you not realize how much trouble we could've gotten into?"

"No. And I don't care, anyway."

"Man, you're so-"

"Just drop it, Maya," Albus muttered, grabbing her hand and standing up. "Unless you want to come with me to blow off some steam."

"Of course I do," Maya said, also standing up. She stuck her tongue out at James before following Albus out of the Great Hall.

The two walked in silence for the first few minutes. Albus could tell she was still angry - he saw her balling her fists by her sides, and she gritted her teeth together and muttered things to herself.

"Come on, Maya, it's not a big deal," he said as they walked down an empty corridor.

"I know," Maya replied flatly. "She's safe now, I guess, and that's all that matters."

The two of them returned to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed their jackets, and started making their way down to Hagrid's. Albus had not seen him for several days, as he was up to his neck with homework, and it was only now he realized how lonely Hagrid must be. He hadn't been at mealtimes, either, and Albus was bound to ask him why.

Maya followed Albus down the slope to Hagrid's hut. Neither of them spoke - Albus suspected Maya was still angry with James, even if she didn't say so - and Albus didn't bother striking up a conversation for a fear that she would snap at him. He climbed up the steps, holding a hand for her to balance herself, and knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Hagrid!" Albus called, knocking again. "Hagrid!"

They heard a small moan from inside.

"Out of the way," Maya muttered, shoving him aside and taking her wand from out of her boot. She held it up, closed her eyes, and said, "_Alohomora_!"

The door swung open.

The two stepped inside. There sat Hagrid on his couch, wiping his eyes with a small pink handkerchief, his hair looking even more tangled than usual. Both kids looked at each other, frowned, and then ran over to their big friend.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked soothingly.

"No," Hagrid responded, his voice muffled.

"Well, what's wrong?" Maya asked.

Hagrid sniffled. "I los' this key," Hagrid murmured. "It was silver, with some carvins' on it. Mighty pretty, that key, but I need it ter open a chest o' mine that's upstairs."

"Oh!" Albus exclaimed. "Oh, I think I found that in September! How long have you been looking for it?"

"Couple o' months," Hagrid responded, but he seemed much happier. "Do yeh happen to have it on yeh?"

"Not at the moment, no," Albus responded. "But can I ask why it's so important?"

"Oh, it jus' had some pictures of yer dad and Hermione and Ron and yeh and yer brother and Rose," Hagrid responded. "I miss to pictures a lot . . . miss the days when yer dad and aunt and uncle came ter visit me . . ." Hagrid held his cloth to his nose and blew.

"I'll come and give it to you tomorrow!" Albus said brightly. "Don't worry, Hagrid, I have it, and you don't need to cry anymore."

"Yer so much like yer dad, Albus," Hagrid said, ruffling Albus's hair. "Boy, do I miss him . . ."

"What was that?" Albus asked Maya as they headed up back to Hogwarts an hour later. "Because that, my dear friend, was very impressive."

"It was nothing," Maya said, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Just a little bit of magic."

"It was amazing." Albus chuckled and nudged her when he saw her trying to suppress a grin. "I don't even think James could do that on his first try. Well, he might, but he's a little bit older then you anyway . . ."

"It's nothing, Al," Maya said firmly. "Now come on, we need to finish our homework."

* * *

"Repeat after me, class: _Wingardium Leviosa_."

The children watched as Professor Rednose spoke this spell. Albus had heard once that his uncle Ron was attempting to do this spell and aunt Hermione corrected him, telling him the right way to say it, and then succeeding at producing the spell herself. After class, Ron insulted her, and she spent all day crying in the bathroom, and as she left she encountered a troll. Albus repeated carefully.

"Now, what I want you to do next is give your wand a little swish and flick like this." Professor Rednose seemed to fling his wand aimlessly, but sure enough, the small gray feather lifted into the air. Albus looked over at Maya, who was three seats away. She seemed to be caught in a trance.

After several minutes of repeating himself, Professor Rednose took a seat at his desk and watched the class attempt to raise their feathers into air. By the looks of it, no one was succeeding; Albus himself was having trouble trying to flick his wand correctly, even if it did look easy when the teacher did it. He looked over at Maya again. She had made her feather move a centimetre off of the tabletop before it fell down limply. She looked at him and smiled. He returned the smile.

Albus looked at Rose. She, too, seemed to have trouble with the Levitation Charm. He watched as it rose from the desk, the distance between it and the surface hardly noticeable, and watched it collapsed down. He noticed that she stopped concentrating on it because she was looking at him. She rose her eyebrows and pointed to his feather with the end of her wand. He shrugged and smiled, looking back down at the feather in front of him. He didn't know how long it would take to get it moving.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," he said. The feather shook, but didn't fly. He groaned.

"Keep trying, Mr. Potter!" exclaimed Professor Rednose from across the room. The class laughed, but Albus kept quiet.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Albus said, louder. Some people turned to look at him.

Again, the feather shook. But it didn't levitate.

Albus shook his head in disbelief. How could his aunt have done it so easily?

He looked at Maya. She, too, was still having trouble. Although he did not like to see her have trouble with classes, it made him feel better that he wasn't the only one struggling. With a reassuring nod at his friend, he turned back to his feather and said in a firm, commanding voice, "_Wingardium Leviosa_."

The feather first started to twitch. Then it started to squirm. Then, it started to shake. Knowing that every eye was on his feather, Albus looked at Maya. She was paying attention, and when she caught his gaze, she mouthed the words 'you're a genius.' He smiled and looked back to his feather. But it was gone. His neighbour pointed upwards, and as Albus saw followed his finger, he also saw his feather. Even in the air, it twitched and flickered, but it was better than anything he could've asked for. A smile grew on his face, and although the feather fell limply back down onto the tabletop, he got claps and cheers from the class. He smiled, leaned back, and listened as everyone used the same voice he had while pointing their wands at their feathers.

* * *

It was Halloween night.

Albus made sure that he was carrying his wand in his pocket before departing from the boys' dormitory. His father had told him that on his first Halloween at Hogwarts, a troll was let loose into the school. Of course, it was not there by accident, but he told his son that just for safety he should bring his wand with him. So he did, slipping it into his pocket before stomping down the stairs to the common room.

Maya was waiting for him. Her bangs, which were normally clipped back, were hanging in front of her face, and her hair looked shinier and wavier than usual. She gave him a small wave and ran up to meet him. "You ready?" she asked.

"What did you do to your hair?" he asked, walking down the hallway with her.

"Oh, I just fixed it up for the holidays," Maya responded with a wink. "Why, is it weird?"

"No," Albus said, shaking his head. "It's really pretty."

A blush rose on Maya's cheeks. Albus chuckled. "Oh, shut up," Maya said, hitting him on the arm.

After meeting up with James outside the common room (earlier he had said he had things to do; Albus guessed he was pulling some pranks), they made their way down to the Great Hall, but they took their time.

"I got this rubber chicken thing from Uncle George's shop," James explained to his little brother as they walked down a corridor. "Apparently, it does some Irish dance if you let it loose. I think it might cause a bit of havoc, but hey, it's Halloween!" He flashed them a smile.

Maya opened her mouth to speak, but Albus cut her off. "Maya, just relax," he said. "It'll be fun, and you know it!"

Maya just shook her head and laughed. "I was going to ask James if he had more than one, actually," she said.

Albus blushed. "Oh. Sorry," he muttered, waving to Rose as she ran towards them.

"It's fine, Al." Maya gave Rose a quick hug before they walked into the Great Hall.

Jack-O-Lanterns hung from the ceiling, sat in large clumps in the corners of the room, and lined down the middle of each table. The clouds above only parted away for the moon, which cast an eerie glow. Maya took a seat at the end of the table, followed by Albus, and waved Rose goodbye.

"Nice décor," Maya said happily.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Albus agreed.

After they finished dinner (there was quite a special array of foods with pumpkin), they headed back to the common room. Though the hallways were mostly clear, there were several hallways blocked off, and both Albus and Maya knew why: James. They didn't bother talking to him about it later, as he was extremely happy, but instead watched him as he pranked a few fourth-year girls by slipping a hat onto his head that made it disappear.

Maya rolled her eyes, crunching on a Chocoball. "What a flirt," she muttered.

"It's a holiday," Albus replied. "Don't hound on him too much."

Maya rolled her eyes again and poked Albus in the shoulder. "I don't hound on him," she protested, irritated. "I tell him the difference between right and wrong because apparently he can't see it for himself."

"He can see it." Albus looked over at his brother. "He just forgets about it sometimes."

Maya put her feet up on the table. "Well, I think I forgot about it too, because I have this." She held up a Rubby O'Chicken by the neck and watched it squirm for a few moments before putting it on the table beside her feet. Suddenly, it started dancing. They both laughed.

"That's cuter than it is funny," Felecia said, pulling up a seat beside them.

"Where's the twin?" Albus asked.

"With Myles, helping to clean up some hallway." Felecia seemed slightly hurt, so Maya handed her a Chocoball.

"Look at him!" Felecia squealed happily, giggling. "He's so cute!"

As the little chicken danced its little heart out, the Gryffindors made their way up to bed. Soon, everyone was asleep, and everything was peaceful.

* * *

**Yeah, that's the new chapter. I keep forgetting about characters like Myles and the twins and I think I need to use them more often so they disappear completely. Anyway, do you think Maya's actually going to go to Albus's for Christmas? Huh? I know what's going to happen, of course, since I'm the writer. But feel free to guess along with review.**

**And I'm warning you guys in advance that this story is not going to be very long. Around 20 - 24 chapters, and that's it. Now, I don't want complaints, because I'm doing this so I see if people like it. If they don't, well, this'll just be a one book series. If they do like it, and I really hope they do, then I'll make the sequels and stuff leading up to seventh year! SEVENTH YEAR! If you like the fanfic, go ahead and give it a favourite, a follow, and a review, and I'll see you guys next Saturday.**

**-Marina**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

It was the second week of November, and Albus was eagerly waiting for Maya to 'hurry up and get dressed.' She had said fifteen minutes earlier that she needed to change into warmer clothes before going down to Hagrid's, and if she was going to do that she would need at least five minutes. Albus had never quite understood why girls needed a lot of time to get ready, and he didn't want to understand it if it was going to be so complicated. Now, as Albus impatiently stomped his foot and crossed his arms over his chest, he saw her come down wearing a black sweater and jeans.

"Come on, then," she said, grabbing his gloved hand and pulling him out of the Common Room. "Do you have the key?"

Albus slipped it out of his pocket and waggled it in front of her face.

"Good," she said, dropping his hand and shoving her own deep into her pockets. "And do you have your wand?"

"Always," Albus replied.

The two walked across the crisp, snowy ground of Hogwarts.

Albus had always loved snow. The way it looked, draped over the trees and the ground, and the way it seemed to sprinkle like little clumps of salt from the sky. It seemed Maya agreed with him, as well, because as they walked to Hagrid's, her eyes were lit brightly as she looked around. He nudged her, smiled, and together they ran down the slope.

Maya hopped onto a large pumpkin and swung her legs back and forth as Hagrid emerged from the Forbidden Forest with a large tree hanging from his shoulder. Albus, who had known not to get in the way of both Hagrid and a large tree, hopped onto a bigger one beside her. "What's the tree for?" Maya asked as Hagrid leaned the tree against his hut.

"Christmas," Hagrid answered, wiping snow from his beard. "Is yer dad havin' a party again this year, Al?"

"I think so, yeah," Albus responded.

"Well, stop sittin' around," Hagrid said. "Come inter the forest wit me!"

The two kids followed Hagrid through the trees as they looked around. Not a single soul other than them was around, and there wasn't a single noise except for the sounds of their breathing. Albus watched Maya run ahead, hop over stumps, and disappear from view. He laughed and followed her, running up the small hills and hearing Hagrid's booming laugh.

"How about this one?" Albus heard Maya call. He had no idea where she was, though, so he just frowned and shrugged and hoped she'd see.

He saw a little flash of yellow, then another one, and then saw Maya hanging from a sturdy-looking tree branch on a pine tree. She grinned and him and dropped to the ground. He gasped, and ran over to see if she had broken anything, but she was fine. If anything, she looked happier.

"That's a right nice tree yeh found there, Maya," Hagrid said as he walked up behind them.

"Thank you!" Maya said brightly.

"Are we gonna use it, Hagrid?" asked Albus.

"Yeah, we are," Hagrid replied. "Why don't yeh two go look fer another tree while I chop this one down?"

"Alright," the two kids chirped, running into the woods.

Albus made sure to have his wand at the ready when he got too far away from Hagrid. He tried to convince Maya to do so, but she just ran ahead of him aimlessly, not making any plan as she ran along, just following her own path. Albus, who had rolled his eyes and grinned, ran after her, making sure that he left footprints big enough to see when they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

"Can you stop?" Maya asked, irritated, looking up from her Charms homework.

Albus had finished his essay off the day before when Maya was helping Hagrid in the forest. Of course, he had wanted to come, but he didn't want to waste a day outside when he could be working on improving his grades. Maya could not do her homework the day before, as she was in the forest, and she was stuck doing it in the common room while Albus waited for her, bored. He threw crumpled up pieces of paper at her and whistled.

"Nah," Albus said, throwing another one at her head of blonde hair.

Maya groaned, rolled her eyes, and went back to doing her homework.

Hours later, Maya disappeared up to the dorm rooms to get changed into her pyjamas. It was late, and the only light in the room was the fires flickering in the fireplace and a small lamp in the corner of the room. Albus, who was fingering the ring Hagrid had gave him, settled himself in front of the flame, thinking about his parents and what he would say to them in his next letter. He knew it would be short and to the point – asking to make sure Maya was allowed to come for Christmas, asking what they were doing for Christmas, and asking who was celebrating Christmas with them - yet it didn't want it to be like that. He wanted to tell them how much they meant to him and how happy he was to have such great parents. And of course, a little sister. He knew he wouldn't though; those feelings were for face-to-face moments, not letters. And he knew that they wouldn't come out on paper, as well. He could never word them perfectly enough.

Maya came down the stairs in thick, star-patterned pants and a white tee. She took a seat beside Albus and put her feet up on the small brown coffee table, gave him a short smile, and leaned her head against the back of the couch. Albus could tell she was tired; her eyelids were flashing rapidly, and she yawned very often. He nudged her with his elbow. She looked at him, expecting to hear something more than 'Go to bed.'

"Go to bed," Albus told her. "You're tired, I can tell."

"I . . ." Maya yawned. "I don't want you to be lonely."

"It's fine, Maya, honestly," Albus said.

Maya shook her head. "Nope," she replied simply. "Nope, not going."

"Maya, please." He resorted to begging now, hating to see her tired because of him. "Just go to bed."

Maya leaned closer to him, her head almost on his shoulder. "I'm not going," she murmured through a yawn. "Not . . . going . . ."

"I can't help you if you fall asleep on the couch, Maya, 'cause I can't go into the girls' dormitories. You know that," he said.

Maya pulled away. Albus winced inwardly. "Fine." She stood up with her arms crossed turned, and stared at him. It wasn't a glare, it was more of a grateful look. "Good night, Al," she said as she crossed the room. "I . . . I'll see you tomorrow."

Albus stared fleetingly at her disappearing figure. He wanted to call her back, to ask her to stay with him all night, but he knew telling her to go to bed was the right thing. Leaning back in his chair, Albus slipped the ring onto his forefinger and stared at him. It seemed to captivate him, in a way, mesmerizing him until he couldn't see anything else but the ring. He stared at it until some walked swiftly by his chair. He snapped out of his trance.

_Probably just one of the ghosts, _he thought to himself, looking around. But as he looked around the room he saw a white trainer and the hem of a pant leg . . .

"James, what are you doing?" Albus asked, standing up with his hands on his hips.

James turned around and shed the dark cloak. His hair, which was normally combed back in an attempt to impress the ladies, was mussed and sticking up in all directions. His eyes were quick and were bouncing about the room. His mouth seemed almost stuck in a constant frown, and below it was a large cut, bleeding only slightly.

"I was visiting Professor Longbottom," James said quickly. "When I was walking back I came across an animal. Maya's cat. It looked at me, sat down, and licked its paw. I tried to get around it, but the second I step foot near it, it attacked me and gave me this." He pointed to his cut and folded the cloak.

Albus laughed, not feeling bad. "You let the cat out into rain, of course it hates you," he said, snatching the cloak from him.

"I was doing it a favour!" James protested.

"You still carried down there, even if it did want to go outside," Albus said calmly. "You stink at carrying animals. It's only fair."

"Maya's got to get that thing calming medicine over the holiday break," James grumbled. "If I get bitten again, I'm suing her."

Albus's expression became hard. "No, you're not," he said firmly.

"Alright, I won't," James said. "But she does have to calm it down."

Albus trudged over to James and planted himself beside his brother. "Speaking of the holidays," he started, fingering the ring once again, "what are mum and dad doing? Are they having another dinner party?"

"Yup," James replied, cheerful once again. "Inviting everyone in the family. Grandma and grandpa, all the aunts and uncles, Hagrid, Professor Longbotto- er, Neville, and maybe a couple of other people."

"Cool," Albus answered.

They sat in silence for a few moments. It was nice being there, with just each other, as they haven't spent time alone in so long. Albus remembered a time when there was no homework to worry about, no worrying about girls and grades and friends and getting into trouble, just worrying about what they would do the next day. One time, James was hanging upside-down on the monkey bars, asking Albus what they would do the next day, when he puked up all over himself because he was hanging upside-down so long. The next day, he stayed in bed, watching television while Albus and Lily went exploring in the nearby park. Oh, how Albus missed Lily . . .

"D'you think dad will let Maya come home for Christmas?" Albus blurted out.

James looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Why would she come to our place when she can just go to her own?" he asked.

"She's not going home for Christmas," Albus explained. "She told me that she was staying here. I thought that it would be nice if dad and mum got to meet her, and she wouldn't be so lonely because she would be with you and me and Rose and Lily and the rest of our cousins. I already asked, but she didn't respond, she told me to check with mum and dad first."

James stared at his brother. "And you thought this up all on your own?" he asked.

Albus nodded. "Yes," he responded.

James looked at the ceiling. Albus thought he saw the faintest smile curl on his lips. "I think she'll be allowed, yeah," James said. "But we better write a letter first."

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_ I'm going to keep this letter short and to the point, as I need it answered as soon as possible. I have a friend, and this friend is staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, alone. I was wondering if maybe they could come over and spend the holidays with us. And also, while we're on the subject of the holidays, I was wondering if you could tell me what we're doing for the holidays and who we'll be spending them with. I hope we're staying home so my friend can see my room and come to the park with me. _

_ Love, Al._

James re-read the letter several times, probably checking to make sure it had no spelling mistakes, and sure enough, it did not. He shoved it into his pocket and flashed his brother a smile. "I'll send it tomorrow," he explained. "Now, I'm going to bed." He ruffled Albus's hair before trotting up the steps to the boys' dormitories, leaving his younger brother alone in the darkened common room.

* * *

"Come on, Al!" Maya said, tugging on his sleeve. "We have to take Rose and Scorpius into the forest today!"

Albus jerked forward and slammed his head against Maya's shoulder. He had, of course, fallen asleep in the common room, as he was sleepy already when James came in and he was like a zombie after James left. Apologizing to Maya, Albus quickly stood up and looked down at his clothes: a dirty navy blue t-shirt and jeans. After making sure she was okay, Albus rushed upstairs to change.

He pulled on a dress shirt and sweats, glanced at himself in the mirror, and nodded. It wasn't too great of an outfit, but his friends wouldn't care. He ran a hand through his hair and rushed back downstairs.

Maya was waiting for him, hands on her hips. "Well, hurry up!" she exclaimed. "We need to get to the courtyard in ten minutes!" Without waiting for a response, she grabbed him by the elbow and tugged him out of the room.

They ran through the empty corridors, up and down large and small staircases, and jumped over benches and obstacles. Maya was much faster than him, and by the time he caught up with her and his other two friends, she had settled down on a bench and was staring into space with her lips pursed. When he approached them, she grabbed Scorpius and Rose by the shoulders and ran ahead, not waiting for Albus to catch his breath.

Maya, who apparently know Hagrid was not there at the moment, hopped onto a pumpkin with Scorpius. Rose clambered up onto one at the top of the pile (though it was unsteady, she didn't fall off), and Albus followed suit, taking one below Rose and beside Maya and Scorpius.

It was already snowing thick, heavy flakes by the time Hagrid emerged from the forest dragging two small pine trees behind him "Hello, ki-" he started, but pointed to Scorpius with a meaty finger and said, "What's he doin' 'ere?"

"He's our friend, Hagrid," Maya responded. "He's not like his, um, dad."

"It's okay, Maya, you can say it," Scorpius said shyly.

"You better be righ', Maya," Hagrid said. Then his face brightened, and he asked, "Are you here to help me pick out some trees?"

Maya nodded, hopping off of her pumpkin, and helping Scorpius down. It was obvious that he had not done it often. Flashing her a smile, he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his winter coat before peering into the woods.

"Is it safe in there?" he asked while Rose climbed down from the pumpkin pile.

"Most likely," Hagrid replied gruffly. "But I thought yeh all brought yer wands?"

"We did," Maya chirped. "Each one of us."

The four kids held up their wands. Hagrid smiled. "Good." He started towards the trees. "Come on, then."

Rose, Scorpius, and Maya ran ahead of Hagrid and Albus, who walked silently amongst the white and green forest. No words were exchanged, nor glances. Albus was happy to be with Hagrid and Hagrid was happy to be with Albus. He looked up at the gray sky and smiled.

* * *

Albus hurried down the corridor, the crumbled piece of paper in his small hand, and looked madly around. He had gotten a reply back from his parents. He was very excited, and he wanted to open it the second he got it, but he knew that it would be good to look for James first and open it with him. Maya, who had known the letter was about her because Albus told her when he got it, followed behind him, taking her time to get back to the common room. Of course, he would share the news that Rose, too, since she was coming over for Christmas as well, but he would have to find her later. He turned a corner, ran down the hallway, and entered the Gryffindor common room.

"James!" he called out, rushing past a pair of giggling girls in their fourth year. "James!"

James had been sitting a table in the far corner of the room when his brother approached him. Two girls were smiling and watching a Rubby O'Chicken do an Irish Stepdance while James chewed on a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Bluebell coloured bubbles floated around the room but Albus paid no attention as he waved the letter in front of James's face. James grinned and snatched from his little brother. Aloud, he read:

"_Albus,_

_ Of course your friend can come! We'd be delighted to meet them! _

_ We're going to be having a dinner party as usual. All the family is invited, and so are Professor Longbottom and Hagrid and Luna Lovegood. You remember Luna, right? Anyway, we'll see you at the platform on the 21__st__!_

_ Love,_

_ Mum and Dad."_

"You can come, Maya!" Albus said happily, giving her a bear hug. She hugged him back.

"I'm so excited!" Maya replied, releasing him. "I can hardly wait!"

"You don't have to wait much longer," James added, also embracing her in a hug.

"Why don't we go down to the lake to celebrate?" Maya suggested. "Obviously, we won't go swimming, but still . . ."

"Of course!" Albus said. "Let's go find Rose and then go!"

After getting changed into warmer clothing and tugging on their jackets and boots (and after James said good-bye to his lady friends), the three of them set off for the Great Hall. Most of the students would still be in there, as Albus got up to the Common Room the second lunch started, and he knew Rose would be there.

"Rose!" he called, running up behind her. "Guess who's coming to my place for Christmas!"

"Hm," Rose said, turning around. Her hair seemed neater than usual. "Maya, maybe!"

"Oh, isn't it the best news!" Maya said as she ran up behind them. "We get to spend Christmas together and I'm so excited!"

"We're going down to the lake to celebrate," James added, sliding in beside Rose.

"Can I come?" Rose asked, clapping her book shut and tucking it away in her bag.

"Of course!" Maya exclaimed.

Both Albus and Maya gripped her by the arms and pulled her away from the table and dragged her into the hall outside. They let her go when they were out in the courtyard and let her come along independently as they ran down to the lake.

Maya perched herself on a large boulder overlooking the water. Despite the gray sky, it was a beautiful day; snow sprinkled from the sky and draped itself over the trees, and ice seemed to crawl over the surface of the lake as it got colder. Rose cuddled up against Maya, James cuddled up against Rose, and Albus poked himself in between the two girls as the four of them huddled together for warmth. Teeth chattering, Maya pointed to the small patch of white in the gray sky.

"That's the sun," she said.

"No duh," Rose replied playfully.

They watched as the white speck sank lower and lower into the sky. The wind started to pick up, the snow got heavier, and the kids' lips turned more and more blue by the minute. Before the white speck disappeared behind a hill, they hopped off of the rock, looked at each other, and started running on the path to Hagrid's.

They arrived, breathless, on the front steps of Hagrid's hut, sitting or standing or leaning against the walls and watching Hagrid emerge from the forest. He told them, minutes later, as they sat at the round dinner table, that he had finished his searching for Christmas trees and was going to need help putting them up. Maya suggested they do it on a weekend, while Albus suggested they do it after classes. Hagrid seemed to appreciate their help, and agreed to do it on a weekend.

After many hours of chatting, Albus and his friends started departing from Hagrid's house, with a flask or two of tea and a bag of rock cakes. Albus ate one as he left, but spit it out in the snow after, as it tasted disgusting. He then past the bag to Maya, who carried it all the way back to Hogwarts.

* * *

**Yup, Maya's going to the Potter household for Christmas. Feel free to leave a review and tell me anything you would like them to do. I already have a few things planned, and one of them includes Maya's backstory. It's really interesting and I can't wait for you guys to hear it.**

**Almost four hundred views? I'm really excited. You are the best readers anyone could ever ask for, and I want to thank you all. Not only will I be taking suggestions for what they should do over winter break, I'll be taking questions from any of you! Maybe just ones about future relationships, characters, plots, who-likes-who, whatever you want! I'll be answering the ones I think are the best. **

**Like always, review, follow, favourite, and read!**

**-Marina**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The first day of December found Albus wandering the halls aimlessly, looking for Maya. Of course, she had been with him the first half of the morning – they had first went to Hagrid's, then went back to the lakeside to chat and have some chocolate – but after she left the Great Hall at lunch he hadn't seen her. His first instinct was to send a girl to see if she was in the girls' dormitory, but after the girl reported back, she said there was no sign of her anywhere. He went back to the Great Hall to see if she was visiting one of her many friends from different houses, but when he found Rose, Grant, Clarice, and the twins, they all said they hadn't seen her all day. Well, Albus didn't really ask Grant. He made Rose do it. After reporting back to Albus that Grant said no, Albus stomped out of the room and never looked back.

His next instinct was to find Hagrid. He figured the old man would be out somewhere, whether it was in the Forbidden Forest or working on the pumpkins in the patch outside. But after searching for Hagrid for an hour, he gave up on him. The last two people who might've known Maya's whereabouts were Scorpius, who had been spending quite a bit of time with her recently, and James, who was probably back in the common room flirting with some sixth-years. He went to James first, as he was the one who owned the map that showed every single person in Hogwarts and where they were. Albus asked to use the map and James obliged, wanting to make sure that Maya was safe. Albus took a seat in a comfy chair and started looking. After several moments he found her in an old hallway quite a way's away, and she was with Sidney Webster.

Albus knew something was wrong the second he saw those two names together. He did not give James back the map – in fact, he stowed it away in his pocket, and without listening to hear his brother's protests, followed his own stick figure as it made its way through Hogwarts. Once, he stopped looking for a good ten minutes, and when he opened it again he saw that both Maya and Sidney had moved well away from each other. In fact, the only person Maya was around now was Scorpius. And their figures were pressed together.

Albus frowned and raised his eyebrows. Surely, they wouldn't be . . . kissing. They only just met each other, and they were far too young. Albus's eyebrows knitting together as he pondered the possibilities when something hit him: Maya was with Sidney. Sidney was probably insulting Maya, and Scorpius had come to her resuce. Albus thought that even though they were still pressed together, they were probably hugging, or Scorpius was comforting her. Slowly, he looked at the map until he heard their voices. Instead of revealing himself, he stood just around the corner, pressed against the wall, attempting to look casual if anyone passed by. But, as he had thought, they didn't.

"I didn't know what to do," he could hear Maya whisper. He could hear her sobbing. "I want to curse them or something but I didn't know any good ones to shut her up." At this, she managed a feeble laugh, and Scorpius managed one too.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner," Scorpius said wearily. After peeking slyly around the corner, Albus could see Scorpius had an arm around her shoulders and was, in fact, not kissing her. If anything, he was comforting her as much as he could without having her too close. He probably didn't want her to get any ideas.

"It's not your fault," Maya said weakly. "It's Sidney's. I didn't think she would call me that again after you stood up for me."

"Sidney doesn't make the best choices, in case you haven't noticed," muttered Scorpius. "Does Albus know?"

At hearing his name, Albus's senses sharpened slightly. "No, not yet," Maya said.

Albus peeked around the corner once more, to see Scorpius squeeze her shoulders and give her a little shake before looking up. It seemed he knew Albus was there, he just didn't say anything, or simply ignored it. Albus breathed in sharply and removed his head from the hall. Scorpius still didn't say anything.

"You should tell him," Scorpius encouraged. "He'll want to know."

"I know he will," Maya said. "But I'm embarrassed. What if he starts to, you know . . . Believe it? What if he treats me like the mudblood I am?"

Albus was taken aback. He had never thought for a moment that Maya thought anyone she knew would treat her like a mudblood, let alone himself. He tried to think of a memory when he might've hurt her feelings, made her feel worthless, treated her like dirt, but he could not think of one, and this confused him even more.

"He would never," Scorpius said simply, though a frown painted over his lips. "And _if_ he actually did – emphasis on the 'if'- just tell me and I'll have him hanging from the ceiling by a thread."

Maya laughed. "I know he wouldn't," she mumbled. "I'm just being a worrywart."

Albus almost sighed in relief. _Thanks, Scorpius, _he thought.

"You should get going," Scorpius said. "You need to go tell him."

Albus peeked around the corner again and saw Maya nod. "I know." She scratched the back of her head then reached over and pulled Scorpius into a hug. For a brief moment, Albus wished it was him she was hugging. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Scorpius replied.

Maya cheerfully skipped down the hallway and turned a corner so Albus could see her no more. Scorpius approached him.

"You heard everything, right?" he asked, barely looking at Albus as he walked by.

"Yes," Albus murmured in reply.

"I'll see you later, then, alright?" Scorpius turned back and finally looked at Albus.

"Yes," Albus said.

As soon as Scorpius disappeared, Albus started running to the common room to see Maya.

* * *

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Albus said to Maya as he sat beside her cross-legged.

After fleeing the hallway, Albus started to slow down. He knew it would be strange if he arrived right when Maya did, or right after or before she did, so he took a small detour through the castle, making sure he kept an eye on the map. He didn't run into anyone like Sidney, which was good – he didn't want to have a run-in with her as well. After noticing Maya's dot in the common room, he started making his way up there, though it took him a longer amount of time because he was in the opposite part of the castle. He didn't even remember which way he took and how he got there. It took him twenty minute to get to Gryffindor Tower, and by the time he was there, Maya was already settled into a chair in the corner and was reading from a textbook. He sat down beside her and she told him the whole story.

"It's okay," Maya said, looking down at her hands. "Scorpius was there to shake her off."

"And how are you feeling now?"

"Fine, I guess."

Albus nodded, looking out the window. Snow drifted past it, as usual, and he sighed. Maybe they wouldn't be able to go outside again today. Albus was glad he savoured it.

"So are you coming to our place for Christmas?" James said suddenly as he perched himself on the arm of Albus's chair. "Or are you staying here?"

"Oh, of course I'm coming to your place!" Maya said happily. "I'm so excited!"

"Mum says she'll take us to Diagon Alley to buy gifts for everyone," Albus said to her, munching on a pear he stole at lunch.

"Do you have money of your own?" James asked Maya.

"Not a lot," Maya said. "But I still have enough to buy all my friends gifts!"

"If you run out Mum can lend you some money," Albus added. "I'm sure she won't mind. We have a lot, anyway!"

"So who's coming to the dinner party?" Maya asked.

"Our uncles George and Percy and their kids," James answered.

"And Rose's family and Hagrid and Professor Longbottom and his wife," Albus added in a mumble.

"And our dad's friend Luna Lovegood and her husband and her kids," James said.

"And our uncle Bill and his wife and kids," Albus interjected.

"And our grandparents!" James exclaimed.

Maya stared at them. "And you have room for all of them at your house?" she asked.

Albus nodded. "Course we do," he replied. "They wouldn't be coming over if we didn't!"

Maya grinned. "Are any of them staying overnight?"

"No," Albus said. "You are, I mean, and I think Rose might be as well just for a couple nights, but no one else as far as I know."

"You have clothes, right?" James asked Maya.

"No, James, I don't have clothes," Maya said sarcastically.

James frowned.

"She's kidding, idiot," Albus said with a chuckle.

"Oh!" James exclaimed. "Oh, okay good!"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Do your parents know I'm a girl?" she asked.

"Yep," Albus responded. "I sent them a letter back. I think Mum was a bit nervous about it but you're staying in the guest room anyway. Dad wants to meet you, though," he added. "He's pretty excited to meet one of my first friend I made at the school."

"Well I'm excited to meet your dad," Maya said.

"Who isn't?" James said with a cheeky grin.

After several more minutes, the three kids decided to head down to dinner. Maya kept asking Albus about what they would be doing and what his house was like and what his family was like, James hung back, and they met up with Rose before going inside. She had sent a letter to her parents asking if Maya could stay over the holiday break, and she and Maya were jumping up and down with excitement. Rose took a seat at the Ravenclaw table while the three others slipped into the Gryffindor table.

"Can we go to the library after dinner?" Albus asked Maya through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Sure," Maya answered. "But what for?"

"Homework," Albus said with a frown.

Albus quickly finished his food, downed a couple glasses of juice, and got up with Maya to go to the library. He was relieved to get away from James for a while – he loved his brother, but he really liked to talk and interrupt, and he knew the library was safe because James hardly did any studying. Even so, he got good grades, which Albus could never really understand. But he was happy for him anyway.

They didn't end up going to the library until eight o'clock, thought. Maya bumped into Grant in the hallway, and she just had to talk to him, so she made Albus join in on their absolutely pointless conversation. Then, when they finally stopped talking on and on, Maya bumped into Clarice, who had lost a book of hers, and Maya had to help look for it and drag Albus along for the ride. It turns out it was just in her backpack and she hadn't noticed it before. Maya didn't even seem bothered at all the her two friends wasted an hour that her and Albus could've used for studying, but Albus was extremely annoyed and was about to ditch her when Maya said that there would be no more stops. Though Albus was still a bit annoyed, he had to admit that she was a very kind girl and that it was nice of her to talk to her friends and help Clarice. They finally started heading to the library.

They took a seat beside a window. It was still snowing, and throughout the day it had become heavier and heavier and it was coming own faster than Albus had ever seen it. He rested his chin on his hand and gazed out into the night, smiling to himself. He had done this at home many times, in his attic bedroom; gazed out the window while snow fell fast and heavy onto the ground. His smile grew wider. He could hardly wait to go home at the end of the month and look out the exact same window.

"So what does your room look like?" Maya asked him quietly, causing him to snap out of his trance. When he turned to look at her, she was scribbling something madly down on a piece of parchment.

"It's in the attic," Albus explained, flipping open his own textbook. "One side of the roof his slanted and there's some plants and stuff hanging from it. My bed is pushed to the right so of the room, and beside it is a bedside table with a lamp and some charms and stuff. Across the room is my television and my DVDs. To the left of the room there's my desk and a large potted plant and my dresser and my wardrobe." He breathed a small, happy sigh. Just thinking about it made him calm. "And there's a huge window, and it looks out over a park. It's . . . it's . . ."

"Wonderful," Maya finished, looking up. She smiled at him.

"It sure is," Albus said dreamily, resting his head on the open book. "I can't wait for you to see it."

"You said you have a television," Maya said. "You have muggle things like that as well?"

"Oh, yes," Albus said. "Dad says that he wants us to experience what it's like to be a muggle. We grew up with muggle electronics and stuff. I don't know how anyone else lives without them!" He smiled. "You have them, right?"

Maya's smile faded a bit, but she painted it back on. "Just a tellie and a computer," she said quietly, turning back to her page. "But we have everything else: toasters and ovens and fridges and stuff, like normal muggles. My relatives don't know I'm magic and they come over sometimes, you know?" Her mouth twisted into a frown. "Dad's not magic, so he doesn't have any of that stuff, either."

"You're mum's a muggle too, right?" Albus asked.

Maya's expression softened. Her eyes glazed over with tears and she opened her mouth to speak. No words came out, though, except, "I have to go." She stood up, abruptly tucked her chair in, and almost ran out of sight.

Albus just stared at the empty seat.

Had he said something wrong?

* * *

**Here's chapter eight! This A/N won't be long, just a few things I have to say: Review, favourite, follow, and have a happy Thanksgiving! **

**-Marina **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Albus had not yet seen Maya for the remaining day of the weekend. According to different sources, she busied herself by doing homework, she sat alone on the rock by the lake, walked through the Forbidden Forest (which was hardly 'forbidden' anymore), and spent her time roaming through different parts of the castle she had not yet seen. Albus was very sad – he still didn't know what had happened in the library the day before, and why it hurt her so much as to avoid him – and even using the Marauder's Map, he could never seem to catch up with her. By dinnertime on Sunday, he had run around throughout the castle several times and even asked Hagrid to go in the forest with him and look and he still hadn't seen her all day. Even when he entered the Great Hall, she had sped off.

"What's wrong with Maya? Have you seen her?" Albus asked after cornering Clarice.

"Maybe," Clarice responded, flicking red hair out of her eyes.

"Seriously, Clarice," Albus pleaded. He missed Maya like crazy. He wanted to know what was wrong.

"I saw here earlier in the, uh, place," Clarice mumbled.

"Forget it, you're no help," Albus said and started to turn to leave. But Clarice grabbed his arm before he could flee.

"She's in no mood to see anyone," Clarice whispered into his ear.

"Alright," Albus said, crestfallen. "Thanks for the info, though." He shoved his hands into his pockets and trailed out of the Great Hall, making his way to the common room. Maybe she would be in there doing last minute homework. It was a slim chance, but Albus just hoped that it wasn't too slim.

He pushed his way through the portrait hole and saw her. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was matted down to one side, and she was curled into a ball on a plush red couch. When Albus came in she sat up straight and hugged her knees to her chest, giving him a friendly smile. She, surprisingly, patted the seat beside her. He ran over, but instead of sitting down, hugged her.

"I missed you!" he said as he pulled away. "Where were you all day?"

"Just . . . around," Maya said.

"What happened yesterday?" Albus asked as he sat down beside her. "Did I say something wrong?"

Maya shook her head. "No, no, it wasn't you," she mumbled. "But I don't want to talk about it, so can you just not ask, please?"

Albus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Alright," he murmured, leaning back.

Maya soon went to bed, leaving Albus alone in the common room. A fire crackled in the fireplace, casting dim light across the room. The snow flew by the window, bright against the navy, inky sky, riding along on the wind. Albus's eyes drooped, and his eyelids fluttered, trying to keep themselves open. He was tired from the searching he had done that day, and with a yawn, he propped his elbow on the arm of the chair and rested his chin on it, thinking of the nice turkey that would be waiting for him Christmas Eve night. . .

He fell asleep.

"Pass me tha' one there, Al," Hagrid said gruffly as he held out his hand. "No, not tha' one, the other one."

Albus fumbled his way through the directions Hagrid had been giving him rapidly. It was the weekend after Maya's day-long disappearance – she had not had another one of those that week, though she seemed less happy than usual – and Hagrid had approached them earlier that morning telling them it was time to decorate the trees. They were not shocked, as they had been expecting it to come soon, but they had planned to practice _Wingardium Leviosa. _Hagrid told them not to worry, that they would be using that spell plenty. Grateful, they agreed, and just after lunchtime they started lifting the ornaments onto the tall pines.

Albus picked up a bright green ornament with silver stars. It quite resembled the colours of Slytherin, and with a smile Albus held it up to Scorpius before handing it to Hagrid. Scorpius smiled back, throwing an orange and purple ornament back and forth.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," Maya muttered, watching as a small navy blue ornament flew into the air and hung itself neatly on a high tree branch. Albus watched her, dazed. He had done it successfully, as well, but something about the way she did it seemed much better than the way he did it. He gave her a quick thumbs-up and handed Hagrid another ornament.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," Rose murmured beside Maya, smiling as her own silver winged ornament shot through the air and hung itself on a branch closer to the window.

"Why are girls so good at this?" Scorpius complained as he picked up a golden Christmas tree ornament.

"Because we listen to the tips given in class," Rose said playfully, sending a bronze candy cane flying at his head. He got it, gave her a grin, and threw it back. Of course, Rose did not know it was coming, and it hit her side and fell to the ground, cracking in half.

"I'm so sorry Hagrid!" both of the kids said as they hurried to the ornament.

Hagrid grunted a reply and adjusted a wreath.

"Oh, you two," Maya mumbled, hopping down from the chair she had been standing on and walking over to the broken ornament. She flicked her wand and said (quite clearly, I might add), "_Reparo."_ The candy cane mended itself.

"H-How did you do that?" Scorpius asked as he bent down to pick it up.

"I hadn't used that spell before," Rose said, awed.

"Me neither," Maya laughed, clearly relieved. "But I thought I might as well try it out."

"It was amazing," Albus said, also awed.

"Git back to yer work, kids!" Hagrid said, but he was awed and was laughing as well.

A minute or two later, Albus 'accidentally' dropped an ornament. With a loud thump, it hit the ground and split into several pieces. He grinned and Maya and Rose, winked at Scorpius, and hopped down from his own chair, muttering, "_Reparo." _After repeating this several times, Albus picked it up and marvelled at how good-as-new it looked. He threw it to Maya, who pointed her wand at it and made it float into the air gracefully before letting it drop onto a lower branch and hang from the navy ribbon.

Soon after he broke the ornament, the tree was finished, and the five of them looked at it with pride in their eyes. Scorpius helped Rose start decorating a tree in another corner of the room. Meanwhile, Albus and Maya started working on another bare tree, dragging over a box or two of ornaments, and hopping onto two rickety chairs with their wands at the ready.

"I think Scorpius and Rose like each other," Maya said as Albus made an ornament hang itself from a thin pine branch, watching Rose and Scorpius laugh at something one of them said.

"Really?" Albus said, turning to her. He had his suspicions about their relationship as well but never thought about saying anything to his family.

"Uh-huh." Maya manually hung an ornament from the tree. "I really do."

Albus looked at her in disbelief. Didn't Rose know how her family would feel about their possible relationship? Why would she openly flirt with Scorpius when her father would definitely not hear about it? He wanted to believe it wasn't true, but he had to admit the signs were pretty obvious to anyone.

"Is that bad?" Maya asked in a hushed whisper.

Albus nodded, looking at the kids across the room, then at Maya once again.

"Why?" Maya asked.

"Because their parents were enemies," Albus replied, then waving off the subject.

James, after two or three hours of decorating trees, came to join his brother and his friends. He assisted Rose and Scorpius as they worked on another tree (Albus told Maya he thought his brother suspected something as well), while Maya and Albus each took their separate trees. Albus remembered the days when he decorated trees back home, with his close family, and a fire cracking way in the fireplace and cookies laid out on the table. A smile soon slipped onto his face as he worked. He couldn't wait to decorate his tree manually back at home with his family and Maya.

For the tree in Hogwarts, Albus tried to stick to his own design, using only house colours to decorate his trees, whilst Maya decorated her tree with whatever she felt like. Albus thought that, for once, what he was working on looked better than hers, and apparently she thought so as well, because once she finished she stepped away and pursed her lips.

"Do you think this looks nice?" she asked, seeming slightly unpleased.

Albus nodded. "It's . . . vibrant," he said. "And bold."

"Yes, but it's ugly, too, right?" Maya sighed and shook her head.

Albus shook his head. "No, no!" he added quickly. "No, it's pretty! It's just not what I look for in a tree!"

Maya laughed, tilted her head back. "Thanks for telling me the nice way that my tree is ugly," she said.

"I didn't mean that! Maya, it's-"

But he was soon interrupted by James, who suddenly came trotted over and started to point out the 'mistakes' on Albus's tree. Albus rolled his eyes at Maya, who giggled and started to adjust her own. He worried briefly that he hurt her feelings, but shoved that thought away. She didn't mean to mind at all, humming her own little Christmas song while letting the ornaments fall into the box.

After a while, Maya asked, "Don't you guys have other cousins that go here as well?"

James laughed. Albus nodded, though he was smothering a smile. "Yeah, we do," he said. "Most of them don't pay attention, though. Like Fred and Louis have about a zillion girlfriends a month-"

"And detentions," James added.

"Molly and Lucy just ignore us and hang out with their own friends-"

"Along with Dominique," James interjected.

"And Victoire spends most of her time with half of the boys around Ravenclaw trailing behind her everyday and her girly-friends complaining about how they never get any of them," Albus finished.

Maya laughed. "So mostly girls, then?"

"Yup," Albus said.

"And is Fred hot?" Maya waggled her eyebrows and grinned.

"Of course he is!" James said in a girly, high-pitched voice while waving his hands around. "How could he not be?"

Maya laughed again, and for the first time Albus noticed a glint in her eye when she did so. "And is he currently single?"

"I think so . . ." Albus thought about it for a while. "Yes, he is. I can introduce you if you'd like!"

Maya's grinned stretched even further, seeming ready to fall off her face. "Oh, good."

"He's in his fourth year, though!" James protested. "I think the age difference would be creepy."

"If he's hot, then what else matters?" Maya said with a giggle.

Albus shook his head. "A lot," he chuckled. "A lot."

James soon left to follow a trail of fifth-year Ravenclaw girls and left Maya and Albus alone to continue decorating their trees. Maya's now had a selection of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor coloured ornaments, and Albus's had, well, Albus's had stayed basically the same. Admiring her work, Maya leaned against one of the house tables. Her smile, which had disappeared after her hard working, had come back in the same place. She pretended to wipe her hairline, and said, "Now, _that's _much better."

Albus laughed. "Totally," he said, sitting down beside her. "Much, much better."

Maya turned to him. "Wanna go to the library?"

"Sure," Albus said, standing up and shoving his wand into the pocket of his pants.

The Monday after the tree-decorating, at breakfast time, Albus and James took Maya around the Great Hall to meet their cousins. Even though she would be seeing them at the Christmas dinner party, she wanted to be able to talk to them without all the awkward introductions, and Albus and James hurriedly agreed that that would be a good idea. She also wanted to be able to say 'hi' to them in the halls without being looked at like she was crazy, which was also another good point.

They started with Fred, who was in Gryffindor and was in his fourth year at Hogwarts. Fred had tanned skin and fiery red hair and bright blue eyes. He was almost exactly like his late uncle, whom he was named after; he was a prankster, loved to talk and joke around and had plenty of ladies falling for him, even if he didn't notice. When Maya came over, he smiled and greeted her like she was an old friend, pulling her down onto the seat beside him with a five-minute conversation. Apparently, she had wanted to talk more, because when James and Albus dragged her away she groaned and told Fred she would see him later.

"He is hot!" Maya whispered, half to herself and half to the brothers as they walked over to Louis. "I knew it!"

"Shut up, Maya," James said. Albus didn't know if he was kidding or not.

Next, they went to Louis at the Ravenclaw table. Like his mother, he was drop-dead gorgeous; he had blonde hair as curled at the nape of his neck, light skin, full lips and blue eyes. He was tall, as well, with large muscles. Albus noted Maya seemed to notice; she was trying not to stare at them as Louis introduced himself by kissing her hand. A light pink blush spread across her face and, once again, Albus and James dragged her away.

Before she could do more complaining, though, the dragged her further down the table to meet Victoire. Like her brother and mother, she was stunning; her silvery blonde hair cascaded down her back, her long eyelashes framed her glassy gray eyes, and her sharp cheekbones could cut glass. Maya also thought she was beautiful and seemed to be seeping with jealousy as they dragged her away from yet another cousin.

"No wonder she gets all the guys," Maya grumbled, crossing her arms and letting the two boys tug her along.

They next brought her to meet Molly and Lucy, who were both in Hufflepuff. Despite their two-year age difference, they looked similar; they both had auburn hair, though one had her hair straight and the other, curled. They inherited green eyes from their mother, along with freckles and cherry red lips. Despite their appearances, they were different in personality; Lucy was shy, meek, and quiet and Molly was outgoing, adventurous and, though Albus thought it was mean of him to admit it, obnoxious. Maya seemed to like their company and noted to spend more time with both of them.

Last was Dominque, also in Hufflepuff. She had not quite inherited her mother's beauty as much as her siblings, and for this, she complained. She was quite pretty anyways, though, with light ginger hair falling around her shoulders like a curtain and sparkling blue eyes. She looked quite odd from the rest of her family, as well, for she had several streaks in her hair and several piercings, all in different places. Overall, she was quite nice, even if she could be a little bitter sometimes. Maya bid her goodbye with a smile.

The two boys and Maya sat down at the end of Gryffindor table again. It was getting late – some kids were already running to class – but they needed time to eat their breakfast, even if it was small. Maya went on and on about their cousins, not leaving out parts of how hot the boy cousins were (Albus tried not to listen) and how jealous she was of the girls because they were, 'sooooo gorgeous!' Albus told her as she looked down at her plate that she was just as pretty as any of them, and though he thought it might've sounded a bit weird, Maya took it to heart and was smiling for the rest of their first daily meal.

The two kids ran to class after breakfast. Three minutes left . . . two minutes left . . . one minute left . . . and they dashed right into the Potions classroom the second class started. With satisfied glances at each other, they trotted across the room, slid into their seats and turned their attention to Professor Blu.

"Hello, class," Professor Blu said in his creaky voice. "How was your weekend?"

Many of the kids shouted out complaints of homework, of the weather, and of being cooped up inside all day. Professor Blu, immune to this, ignored their complaints all together, clapped his hands, and said, "Good, good! Now is every ready to work on a potion to cure boils?"

The class groaned.

"Now, now, that's not a good attitude!" Professor Blu scolded. "Not one at all!"

The class stared at him.

"But since it is getting close to Christmas, I thought I might make this class a race! The pair of students who brews their potion the best will win a special Christmas present from me. And yes, that means we are doing this competition with partners. Please, get your partner, gather ingredients, and start working!"

Maya grabbed Albus's elbow. "Partners?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," Albus replied calmly.

Together, they got together and set their ingredients out on the table in front of them. Snake fangs and porcupine quills were each in their own little gossamer bag, while several horned slugs crawled around on the tabletop in front of them. Not only were they incredibly ugly and slimy, they smelt horrible. Maya plugged her nose and looked away, closing her eyes.

"Don't worry, Maya, you'll get used to the smell after a while!" Professor Blu said as he walked by, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Maya nodded and turned back to the slugs.

Albus put six snake fangs into the mortar and started crushing them while Maya chatted with Myles. His partner, Felecia, was doing the same thing as Albus, and she looked over to him and smiled. He smiled back.

After successfully crushing the fangs into a fine white powder, Albus and Maya continued to brew their potion. All throughout the class, they continued to talk about his relatives (he did it to make Maya happy, in all honesty). She still said Fred and Louis were hot, and that all the girls were 'super-duper pretty' and that she was not as pretty as any of them. Albus reassured her again and again, but it seemed to not work.

Class was almost over when Professor Blu clapped his hands; the children groaned, most of them looking up, but a few other strays continuing to work on their potion. Professor Blu didn't seem to care, or notice, so he bellowed a few announcements about 'important dates' and told the class when they should come back to school and that they should have all the things they need. He then went around the room inspecting the potions; some were a velvety purple, some were a vibrant yellow, and some were as black as the night. He seemed disappointed, but Albus just looked at Maya and shrugged.

When he came to their table, though, he stopped. He looked into the pot and saw the sky blue liquid moving and shifting. He jerked his head upwards and saw the pink steam rising from it. With a large grin and smiled, and said, "This would cure a boil in seconds! Well done, children!"

Sidney glared at them from across the room.

"Not only do we win a prize," Maya mumbled, turning her head to the ground to look like she wasn't talking, "we totally bugged Sidney."

"It's a win-win situation," Albus mumbled back, looking into the cauldron.

Professor Blu stumbled over to their table, holding a small beaded bag. This struck Albus as quite odd; wouldn't he have put their present in a wrapped box, or a gift bag, instead of a small beaded bag? He didn't ask any questions, though, as it was, in all honesty, a wonderful looking bag. He curiously peeked over Maya's shoulder as she tugged it open. Inside were four chocolate frogs. Apparently they got to keep the bag as well.

After stowing the chocolate away in their bags and packing up, the two Gryffindors exited the Potion's classroom.

And they were smiling.

* * *

**Voila! Here's chapter nine! Just telling you in advance that all of the cousin WILL appear on Christmas and in all the other sequels I write. That's another thing; I've decided to write the sequels! This world is so amazing and just one Hogwarts story is totally not enough for me, so there will be sequels. And they'll have the same characters, too . . . and you're also going to meet a few more new characters after the holidays, when you find out what's up with Maya. It's going to be dramatic for the next four or five chapters. But I hope you all like it! **

**-Marina**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"And why exactly are you telling me this?" Albus asked as he looked at Grant.

"Because I need you to give it to her," Grant said. "Please, just do it."

Albus let his hand fall onto the mahogany tabletop. The two boys were in the library – one had been doing his homework peacefully in a deserted aisle and one had been trying to find the other for a while – and Grant had approached Albus asking him to give Maya a present to open on Christmas. Albus, of course, didn't want to, but he knew it would make Maya happy and Grant would owe him something; that was mainly why he was doing it.

"Only if you do something for me," Albus mumbled with an evil grin.

"Fine," Grant said, thrusting the small black box into Albus's hands. "But you have to give it to her to open on Christmas."

Albus rolled her eyes. "I will," he promised.

"And what can I do in return?" Grant asked, slightly bitter.

"I'll have to think about it," Albus said, standing up and swiping this things off the table as Grant made haste to sit down. "But you will have to do something."

Grant sighed. "Fine," he muttered.

Albus, tired, started making his way back to Gryffindor tower. No, he didn't want to give it to Maya – she might think Grant was 'sweet' or whatever and it would ruin Albus's chances with her – but he knew that he had to if he wanted to be a good friend. After all, it was what Maya deserved. She was one of the best people he knew and he always wanted to be her friend. And, if possible, something more. Oh, the thought made him smile. He could imagine his lips against hers in the common room, with a fire crackling in the fireplace, and the snow rushing past outside the window. He could hear the wind whistling through the gaps in the window and could feel the velvet of the couch they were sitting on.

"Hey, Al!" Maya rushed up to him with an excited grin.

Albus felt his cheeks get hot and tipped his head to the ground. "Um, hey," he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Were you in the library?" Maya asked, looking at his books and his half-filled up parchment.

"Yeah," Albus replied with a nervous laugh.

Maya stared at him with an eyebrow raised. "Why are you being so awkward?" she questioned, hands on her hips.

Albus gave her a smile as soon as he knew the red escaped his cheeks. "No reason," he said quietly, brushing hair from his face.

Maya grinned. "Well, fine," she said. "Anyway, I was just going to the library, so I'll see you later, okay?"

Albus nodded and continued making his way upstairs.

In the common room, a fire was crackling in the fireplace. Several students were sitting, playing things like Wizard's Chess, some were milling about, thumbing through books or carrying some around to tables where they would work, and some were coming up and down the staircase to the dormitories.

"Hey, Al!" Felecia said, rushing up to him.

"Oh, hey Felecia," Albus replied with a cool smile.

He noticed that she was wearing a heavy brown coat. "Wanna go for a walk?" she asked.

"Oh." Albus nodded. "Sure. Let me just get my coat."

After Albus got his coat and his scarf and brought an extra one down for Felecia, the two slipped on some hats and mittens and stomped on their boots. Then, together, they exited the common room.

It was a fairly nice day out. There was a chill in the air, but that was expected for winter. Gray clouds veiled the sun from view but it was still slightly noticeable. Snow piles reached as high as their knees and they had to trudge through a lot of the thick, white stuff. They didn't mind, though. It kept them busy.

Felecia reached back and tightened her ponytail. Albus couldn't help but see how pretty she was in the weather. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were sparkling, and the colour of her jacket looked amazing with her skin. Albus bit his lip and looked away. He knew he didn't like her, but she was still really pretty. Like, really pretty.

In a few minutes, Fred and Dominique had caught up with Albus and Felecia. Fred and Felecia were chatting up a storm, going on and on about what they were doing over Christmas holidays (Felecia was going on a cruise and Fred mentioned the Christmas party at Albus's house, like, twenty seven times) and what they were doing in their different classes that term. Dominique and Albus, meanwhile, walked a bit behind them and looked at the falling snowflakes. They didn't talk. They had nothing to talk about.

"Excited for Christmas?" Dominique asked a little while later as the four of them took a trip on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

"Yeah," Albus answered quietly. "My friend's coming over. Maya? Do you remember her?"

Dominique nodded. "Yeah, the one you like," she said.

Albus turned to her, his mouth open.

Well, someone obviously told her. He wasn't that obvious about it. He didn't stare at her a lot (maybe a little, but he couldn't help it!), he didn't moan her name in his sleep (well, at least he didn't think he did), and he didn't stare at her lips for hours on end (unless of course he forgot he was doing so). He blushed and looked away, biting his lip.

"Um, _no,_" Albus said hotly. "I don't like her."

"Oh, right," Dominique said, nudging him. "You _love _her."

Albus turned to her, wanting to smack her upside the head or to push her. But he kept his cool. "I don't love her, I just like her, and I will only ever like her, because she won't love me back and if I let myself love her then I'll just get my heartbroken and be mopey all the time and people will want to smack me for being so negative and I'll be mad at her and she won't know why and she'll get all hurt and she'll get all sad too and then no one will be happy!"

Okay, so maybe he didn't keep his cool. But he tried.

Dominque was staring. Felecia was staring. Fred was staring, trying really hard not to laugh because he thought it was just a joke or imitation. Albus stomped away, fists balled up by his sides, and didn't stop stomping until he reach the boy's dormitory and allowed himself to fall face-first onto his bed.

When did his life become so difficult?

"Dude, calm down!" Fred said as his cousin, Albus, glared at him and opened his mouth to say something negative. "I was kidding! I know you don't like her!"

Albus sighed, nodded, and looked away, biting his lip. About two days after the walking mishap, Fred had approached him and talked to him about his, um, 'spazz-out' (Albus didn't use this term, his cousin did). He said he didn't believe what Dominique said even though Albus had said it himself and said that he knew he didn't like her. Albus had actually calmed down when Fred had to bring it up again, saying they would make a good couple.

Albus hadn't talked, walked, or hung out with Maya at all since the walking incident. He was afraid Fred or Dominique or Felecia told her and didn't have the guts to make up an excuse for why he said what he did and was afraid that she'd say something like, "Oh, I don't like you." Of course, he knew she would never be so absolutely heartless to him, since he was basically her best friend, but still kept thinking about all the horrible things that could happen. He also didn't trust himself to talk to her in general for the fear that he would give her the same speech he gave his cousins and Felecia. On top of all that, he hadn't talk to Felecia, either, and could always see her approaching him. He always hid or ran away.

Fred patted his younger cousin on the back and pulled him close in a one-armed hug. "Don't let Dominique get you down, man," he said in Albus's ear. "She just does it to tease. She loves you and doesn't want to hurt you."

Fred gave his cousin a kiss on the forehead before getting up and leaving. Unlike most teenage boys, Fred was not squeamish about showing affection to people he loved like family and friends. It was another factor that made girls drawn to him.

Albus ducked his head but still got the kiss anyway. He had a problem with affection from relatives (for example, if his mother licked her thumb and scrubbed something off of his face, he would smack her hand away and complain), and was probably the only one in the family that did.

After his run-in with Fred, Albus head down to Hagrid's house, hoping to find Maya there. If he was going to spend two weeks with her then he had better get used to talking to her again. He slipped on a sweater that he brought with him and ran down the front steps. He had forgot to bring a jacket and didn't feel like going all the way up to the common room to retrieve it. He ran through the piles and piles of snow, tripping once or twice, flat-out falling onto the ground every few meters. He kept going and going but it felt like he wasn't getting any closer. Despite his numb fingers, he took a few brisk breaths, sat on a particularly large pile of snow, and got up once he realized it was someone. Or something that moved. The first option was more likely. He dug his frozen fingers through equally frozen snow and found Brookie, Maya's cat, numb to the bone and shivering like crazy. He had to do something to make it up to Maya for ignoring her, so he wrapped the cat up in his sweater, held her to his chest, and kept running. It finally seemed like he was getting closer.

He hesitated a bit when he heard voices. Maya's, surely, Hagrid's, but someone else was there. He didn't hear a name, but heard a young man's voice. His first instinct was Fred, telling Maya and Hagrid what happened, but it was a bit higher and had a thicker accent. Someone else, for sure. He thanked God and pressed his ear to the door.

" . . . haven't seen her for a day," Maya's voice was saying. Albus could tell she had been crying. But over who? Her cat, maybe? Albus looked down at the animal in his arms. He would wait just a little longer. He didn't want to barge in but didn't want to knock. "I really . . . Want her back, Hagrid . . ."

". . . . . I know, Maya, but . . . . Has Al seen her?"

"I don't know . . ." Maya said, then hiccupped. " . . . talked to him in . . . miss him almost as much as her . . ."

Albus looked back down at the cat in his arms. He couldn't wait much longer or she might die. He rapped on the door with his frozen-through knuckles and prayed that Maya wasn't mad at him.

No one came to the door at first. He heard Maya whisper to the boy and ask who it was. The boy answered, saying he didn't know. Hagrid suggested one of them go answer it. Maya said she would go. Her boots tapped softly against the wooden floorboards. She flew the door open.

"ALBUS!" Maya yelled, grinning widely as she flung herself at him. "I'VE MISSED YOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, HAVE YOU BEEN AVOIDING ME? ALBUS, YOU LITTLE. . . I'VE MISSED YOU!" She tightened her grip around his neck when she felt the cat being squashed between them. She looked down and then up at him.

"I found her under the snow," Albus said, catching his breath that was taken away from both the cold and from Maya. "We need to get her inside now."

Maya took the sweater and the cat in her arms but grabbed Albus's hand and tugged him inside. He took a seat on the couch beside Myles (he hadn't talked to him in a while which would explain why he didn't remember the voice) and gave him a nudge. Myles shrugged and looked at Maya, who was now crying.

"Will she be okay, Hagrid?" she asked in the softest voice Albus had ever heard her use. He wanted to cry just listening to her.

"I think so," Hagrid said, wrapping the cat in a thick woolen blanket. "But we'll have ter wait. Heat up some water for Al, in the meanwhile – and give 'im a blanket. There's one over there."

Maya put some water over the fire and draped a thick quilt over Albus's shoulders. He thought he was going to have it to himself when she took on half and folded it over both of them so their shoulders and knees were touching. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her face into his chest.

"I'm scared, Al," she said quietly, tears soaking his clothes.

"I know," Albus said, giving her an affectionate pat on the back. He couldn't help but feel incredibly awkward. "I'm sorry."

"Well, at least you brought her back," Myles piped up in his Irish accent.

"Shut up, Myles," Maya said, laughing despite her tears.

A few minutes later, Maya got up to pour Albus a mug of hot water and herbs. The feeling in his hands was already returning and he wasn't shivering as much anymore. Maya did point out that his lips were as blue as blueberries when he arrived, though. But maybe Maya's hug had done a bit to warm him up.

It was hard work, coaxing the warmth back into Brooklyn. They had to wrap her in blankets and rub her and feed her steaming hot water. They had even held her in front of the fire for about two minutes at one point, when there was a chance she wouldn't make it. But they had done it and Albus couldn't be more relieved. He didn't particularly like the cat, but it was still a cute little animal, and it was Maya's. He wouldn't be able to stand her sadness if the cat had been lost.

At around eight o'clock that night, Maya and Albus headed back up to the school. Hagrid said that Brookie should stay with him for a few more nights and the two children agreed. She probably wasn't ready to see snow again. On the way back, Maya wrapped her arm around his and held him close, cheeks shimmering with tears.

"Thank you, Al," Maya said, her voice cracking gently.

"No problem," Albus replied, a blush shading his cheeks. He wanted to pull away but knew how rude it would be.

"No, really, I mean it." Maya tightened her arm around his. "Thank you. It means the world to me."

Albus smiled at her. "You're welcome, Maya," he said quietly.

* * *

**Gah, sorry for the very, very late update! Life has honestly just been hell lately (excuse my language). I'm starting to just get really tired of doing things and trying to continue with making things better. Very emo and depressing, yes, but it's honestly how I feel right now. But is that the attitude I need? No! It isn't! You guys are the best fans ever - review, read, favourite, and follow, as always! **

**Two more things: Please, please go and read my new one-shot, Draco's Desire. I'm incredibly proud of it. I think it's really good, which is definitely saying something coming from me, a person who's constantly emo and depressed and self-conscious. And also, there will be a poll up today or tomorrow that may just define the future of this fic! I kid, I already have things planned out. But the poll is just basically going to ask who you all ship Maya with. It'll have a lot of options. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Marina**


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